I Am the Messenger, read by raidergirl3

With all the love I read about Markus Zusak and The Book Thief, I decided to read one of his other books, I Am the Messenger, as recommended by Jill (mrsteme).

She said: I love this story because it shows that we are all capable of doing wonderful things. The main character receives cryptic playing cards with clues written on them, and he's charged to do good deeds to designated strangers - the catch is that he doesn't know exactly what he's supposed to do. So he must observe and be creative. And figure it out, or else...

Ed Kennedy is a twenty year old cab driver in Australia, with not much hope in his life. He plays cards with his equally hopeless mates, is in unrequited love his best friend Audrey, is on the outs with his family and lives with his very smelly dog. One day he witnesses a bank robbery, inadvertently gets involved, and then his life is never the same. He is given a playing card, with a very vague message on it. Ed takes up this challenge and has to help some people.

I loved Ed's acceptance of his role, his faith in people and especially himself, to know the right thing to do, without knowing why he was doing it. I found this a very uplifting story, seeing how small, seemingly insignificant events can be so important. Ed's bravery to confront people, especially his friends, is quite a message.

How many people get this chance?
And of those few, how many actually take it?

This is a book that will stay with me for a while. Thanks to jill(mrsteme) for recommending it.