The Westing Game (original 1978; edition 1997)

I was intrigued by the mysterious chess game that was going on in the story. Who was playing chess with Theo in the game room.? Students who like mysteries and puzzles will like this book. (I have a copy of this one on CD that I loan to students who prefer audio books.) ( )

A young adult classic that I only just got around to reading. I decided to pick it up after having a conversation with a sweet, shy young patron at the library who thought this was the best book she'd ever read. She was in search of something equally as good and as riveting and I was stumped for a while, until finally suggesting "The Star of Kazan" by Eva Ibbotson, which I love and I hope she loved too.
Anyway, The Westing Game is great fun, very sophisticated and clever. A murder mystery, with a complicated, impossible to predict ending. All of the characters were fascinating and very well drawn, and Raskin did a masterly job of bringing them together and making you wonder in turn, whether each of them could be the "bad guy."
Super quick read, very entertaining. ( )

I first read The Westing Game when I was in fourth or fifth grade, and I retained very few memories of it aside from the fact that I recalled enjoying it and one major spoiler that I won't go into here. I picked it up again because I was in the mood for a quick mystery, and I was not disappointed. While The Westing Game is of course a children's book, I think adults would nonetheless find the plot entertaining and enjoy the unveiling of the book's numerous twists. I was also surprised to find that this book had a bit more depth than I recalled; in my experience with children's books, it's unusual to find characters exploring their inner selves (why they do what they do, what they really want out of life) as much as I found them to do so here.

The strength of the book is the premise; who doesn't enjoy a "beyond the grave" will that entreats the deceased's heirs to find the killer? But beyond that I found the clues to be interesting (although I STILL wasn't able to figure out one of the twists before it was revealed, even these many years later) and the characters to be good enough for a book directed at this age group.

My only minor criticism is if I can't figure out the mystery before it is shown to the reader, then I highly doubt any child who this book is for will be able to figure it out. Maybe I overvalue my detective skills, but I tend to think in books of this type the reader should be given a fair chance to reason out the conclusion, and I'd be surprised if a child would be able to uncover this book's secrets before the ending arrives. ( )

2012- Reread at the behest of several Betsy-Tacy friends. I didn't hate it this time through, but it's never going to be my favorite book. I found the characters a little more engaging, but Turtle was the only one I really liked. I stand by my earlier review.

2007 The ways of the Newbery committee, even back in the 70s, are most mysterious to me. The story was fun, but it sure struck me as light for a Newbery Medal. I'm not a big mystery fan, so that was a drawback for me too. I'm compelled to say that the mystery wasn't all that mysterious. I didn't much like the characters, and I found the whole thing contrived. ( )

A classic children’s mystery. I didn’t really remember the solution, but enjoyed the whole thing a lot. It strikes me as interesting, in the midst of this raging debate about age and the Newbery, how adult both this and Mixed Up Files are–not in content so much as attitude. [Nov. 2011] ( )