The Westing Game (Puffin Modern Classics)

This was a laugh out loud fast moving tale in the style of the campy murder mysteries of last century. So many twists and turns left me unable to put this down. I recommend “The Westing Game” to people of all ages. Treat yourself to some light hearted fun.

The word variety sums up this book nicely. There are sixteen main characters, and for the most part they all come from very different backgrounds and have very different personalities. True, there isn't much room in the book for each character to be developed on more than just a few traits, like a tendency to kick people, a permanent stutter, or a habit of unwrapping candy bars, but for the design of this children's story, these limited traits are sufficent.The author seems to get unlimited enjoyment in being some kind of practical joker. She does her best to constantly throw the reader off track using the eccentric will of the master of all practical jokers, Mr. Fourth of July himself, Samuel Westing. Raskin reminds me of Andy Kaufman in her manner, and this is a big reason I like her Newbery book. Events and statements that defy logic are everywhere, even in the first few sentences. It's all about mind games.I only have two real complaints (well, one that's real and another that's a minor annoyance). First complaint - the whole bomber thing makes no sense whatsoever. In a universe where clever explanations heal the scars of dozens of apparent contradictions, the bomber plot line stands out as a gaping mortal wound that's never treated. WHY did the bomber set off bombs? With no legitimate explanation, a reader can only conclude that the plot line is a disappointing attempt to pad out the much more interesting and polished Westing murder story.Second complaint (annoyance) - too many people are successful at the end of the story, and I think this goes against the laws of probability. But this is a traditional characteristic in books for children, and it's no doubt designed to encourage more than educate. Only a true stick-in-the-mud like myself will find any offense in the long term success of the likeable characters.Although not on par with the great Sherlock Holmes, The Westing Game is still pretty impressive. Expected twists and turns in plot are well done, but I think the variety of the cast is what made the Westing Game a true stand-out work. Unlike Disneyland where you have maybe eight different smaller lands to visit, here you have sixteen.

My daughter had to read this book in middle school a few years ago. It sounded intriguing, so I added it to my TBR, where it sat for a couple years. Finally, I got around to reading. I enjoy the story very much, but it only gets four stars from me because I found the ending somewhat lacking. Don't get me wrong; everything is neatly tied up. But I would have preferred if the ending had been different.

i read this book when i was in 4th grade and ever since, i’ve always regarded this as one of my favorites and my first dip into murder mysteries, so i knew i had to read it again as an adult. let me tell you, this book was still as fantastic as it was the first time i read it. never once did i feel like i was reading a kids book. definitely recommend for children and adults who love a bit of a mystery.

Recommend book for 5th/6th grader for summer readingMy son loved it

Slow to start, but it was a fairly interesting read. The ending got quite predictable.

The Westing Game mystery is contained in format font placement scansion visual cues and only genuinely comprehensible in print  How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading  Mortimer Adler The Great Books  THE GREAT IDEAS PROGRAM: A General Introduction to the Great Books and to a Liberal Education [10 Volume set ].Westing Game bridges the gap between infant picture books and word books for beginning readers before they tackle paragraph books transposed onto 5th grade and above developmental reading transitions. Instead of photos or illustrations, visual intricacy (and devious deceit) is hidden in bookbinding terms: font (bold vs plain), paragraph separators (dots white space) and very sneaky interruptions in the dialogue which provide visual clues on the page which can be only detected by being seen.We read this book repeatedly as a Halloween tradition, and I find that appreciation for the ingenious allusions, clues and easily missed tantalizing information only increase on repeated reading during adulthood. Sydelle's painted crutches are intuitive clues from a very intelligent but lonely woman. The psychological portraits of the characters are revealed like peeling onions layer by layer, first superficial appearances, then deeper emotions, and finally hidden behaviors: bookie, bomber, thief, inventor, social climber, chess player, imposter.I am a bookbinder calligrapher  Literacy Through the Book Arts  Paul Johnson,  By J. A. Szirmai - The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding (New Edition) (1999-08-16) [Hardcover ], journaler  The Story of Writing  Donald Jackson,  A History of Illuminated Manuscripts  Christopher de Hamel and journaler  Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, The . Westing Game is a contemporary non-illustrated book which utilizes the visual device of manipulating words on the page for sly commentary, a technique common in medieval hand bound books via illumination.At first I limited myself to only the first chapter, stopped to draw a map of Westingtown, the floor plans of each of the 5 stories of Sunset Towers, cut out magazine photos to represent each of the characters which gathered all the information together before I embarked on the second chapter. I discovered at the end of the book that the entire mystery was contained in the first sentence of the first chapter, and was well elaborated through the first chapter. But I could not know that before reading the entire book. Adler suggests reading a book slowly, marking underlining, posing questions which puzzle the first time around. Then rereading a second time with a different color pen, new questions. Why does Sunset Towers face East?5* not just for the brain tickling written mystery but the visual delight of a well planned and thought out book print design. The Avon Flare version has a trio of portraits to get the mind thinking in visual terms: Turtle in witch's gear, Chris with birdwatching binoculars, Chef Theodorakis.

Read this as a kid and just read it again with my 11 year old son. A great mystery story that is lots of fun!

Good story

EL PRECIO CORRESPONDE A LA CALIDAD, BUENA

Bought it for my 11 year old son, and he absolutely loved it. Was surprised, but impressed :)

I could not stop reading this book! THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin is a phenomenal mystery, and I’m actually in awe of how good it is. As I was reading it, I kept forgetting it’s a novel as it seemed more like a puzzle, and the writing style is just amazing.It’s one of the children’s titles for my postgrad creative writing course, but it reminded me so much of Virginia Woolf’s style. I actually googled the book to see if it’s taught to children at schools (or just used for degree level courses) because of this almost stream-of-consciousness style and complexity, with so many beautiful nuanced layers. It’s recommended for ages 10 and upward, and I have since learnt it's taught widely in US schools, but as a UK reader, I hadn't heard of this book at all--and here it often seems only to be taught to adults as an example of how children’s stories should be as complex as adult stories, as obviously you shouldn’t “write down” to children. It will give great satisfaction to adult readers who may be reading it aloud to children, as they’ll understand the more complex themes in it that younger children may not. Though I think children 10 and older would grasp the deeper meanings in this book, and YA readers certainly will.The story follows 16 people (a mixture of children, teenagers, and adults) as they listen to the reading of Sam Westing’s will and discover that one of them is a murderer. All 16 are then thrown into the Westing Game where each must solve clues pertaining to the identity of the murderer. At times, these clues are almost set out like an instruction manual for a game, so we, as the readers, are also playing along. It’s this interactive quality that I’m finding so addictive.It took me a little while to get into this book, mainly because there are just so many main characters, and we're not told a whole lot about these to start with. But we're thrown right into the mystery, and it's like we're trying to solve the mystery at the same time as learn about the characters--which does work really well as we're trying to work out who the murderer is.And working out who the murderer is was just something I couldn't do--which rarely happens. But I really had no idea. And for that, I loved this book. It's just so powerful and it was refreshing to read such a complex and wonderfully plotted mystery that kept me on my toes as a reader. I was really making sure to read every single word on each page in case I missed a clue.Also, the narrative devices in this book are great. We've got multimedia in this as we get recounts of Sam Westing's will and other documents. And all of these are clues for the mystery too!The ending of the book was...strange. I don't know, it's hard to describe it without getting into spoiler territory. Because there are big twists, and though these were satisfying, I was kind of waiting for something more to happen as I was reading...but then by the time I got to the very last page, I realised that the ending was perfect as it was. If there had been another twist it probably would've detracted from the quietly powerful ending--where the true impact of it only hits you after you've stopped reading and you've got time to think.And those final pages, where time suddenly speeds up and we learn what happens to the children as they grow up and the deaths of the older characters who were adults in the story is really heartbreaking. It's really powerful writing.Turtle was by far my favourite character, swiftly followed by Angela. These two characters (sisters) really complimented each other, and I loved how many layers they each had, especially the darkness in Angela as (spoiler) she turns out to be the bomber. I also loved Sydelle and Otis (calling Otis the '65 year old delivery boy' was fantastic, by the way!). The other characters (with the exception of Grace, the mother of Angela and Turtle), although still strong with characterisation, didn't quite have the same impact on me as these characters. I think it's because there are just so many main characters in this book. It was a bit overwhelming. For a long time, I didn't even realise that Crow would be a significant character either. So that threw me a little.Disability representation is also amazing, with the character of Chris who's a wheelchair user--and I loved how this book has other characters making assumptions about Chris and being stereotypical, but that these characters are then either called out, or the narrative voice becomes really snarky as it tackles the misconception. This is honestly one of the best books I've read for disability representation. (And equally, it's not just disability that the book calls out about this; there's also a lot on feminism and the role of women, with characters fighting stereotypes and 'traditional' views.)The writing style of THE WESTING GAME is fun and snarky, and I can see why it would appeal a lot to children and teenagers. It's just so plucky and fun to read, and the narrative voice of the book is really great. There is a lot of head-hopping in the stream-of-consciousness style as we're bounced from one character to another, but uniting all these characters is this snarky voice--which is both snarky and judgmental on the current POV character and about others in general. And because the head-hopping is constant, and the whole thing is written in this style, very similar to Woolf's, this is one of the rare instances where I do feel that the head-hopping works.This is a masterful piece of writing. Highly recommended.

I bought the book hoping to read to my 8 year old daughter however I realised it is better for when she turns older maybe 10 or 12. I don't think it's suitable for young kids.I enjoyed reading this mystery, I still have 20 pages to go however as per the title of this review it is an intriguing read, I can't put the book down. I'll definitely finish it tonight.It is about random families and people living in an apartment block who become potential heir(s) to the fortune of a man living beside the apartment block. Working in pairs they must uncover who killed Mr Westing based on clues (words) provided to them.It is fun trying to solve the mystery. I loved the different characters from a high judge, doctor, intern, cafe owner, wife, restaurant owner, dress maker, doorman, immigrant etc. I adored the very clever character of Turtle. There are many funny moments too as the characters display their thoughts and reasons for their behaviours.A book is always better with illustrations (for me anyway), but it was ok without.