The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Reviewed by Ellen

Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES


1979 Newbery Medal Winner

Ratings Explanation

Violence:  One character, a teenage girl named Turtle, runs around kicking people in the shins.  Three small bombs explode (in a restaurant, in an elevator, and at a bridal shower) causing minimal damage and injury.  Discussion of how Mr. Westing may have been murdered (the premise is a murder mystery, after all.)

Adult Themes:  Samuel Westing, multi-millionaire businessman, has supposedly been murdered and multiple suspects are partnered together to solve the crime.  Mr. Westing’s daughter died years ago; some speculate drowning, some think suicide.  One character is disabled and in a wheelchair; light discussion of racism.

Synopsis

“I Samuel W. Westing declare this to be my last will and testament and do hereby swear that I did not die of natural causes.  My life was taken from me–by one of you!”

An odd assortment of people have been personally offered the opportunity to move into a new, swanky condominium development.  Once they’ve moved in, the residents of Sunset Towers discover that they have two things in common:  they are all potential heirs to multi-millionaire Samuel Westing’s paper products fortune, and they are also all suspects in his murder.  Now they have been brought together to have his cryptic will read to them and a puzzling set of clues dispersed to mis-matched partnerships.  Thus, the Westing Game begins.  The players include mothers, fathers, teenagers, a secretary, an inventor, a Chinese chef,  a doorman, a doctor, a judge, and a dressmaker (not to mention a bookie, a bomber, and a burglar).  They must work in pairs to solve the mystery, and the first pair to solve it wins the enormous fortune.  But since none of them appear to be related,  how are they all tied to Mr. Westing?  And why do all the clues, when put together, become the lyrics to “America the Beautiful”?

I dusted off this Newbery-winner from my childhood to read aloud to my youngest and discovered that, even as an adult, it requires serious attention to details to follow this clever mystery.  Young readers might want to take notes if they intend to solve the crime before the surprise ending.  The book tends to shift perspectives frequently during the narrative, which makes it somewhat confusing if you are reading it aloud (unless you are good at acting out several different voices, including Chinese and Scottish accents), but it is a very worthwhile and entertaining read.  A good introduction to the mystery genre for young readers.