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The Westing Game (Puffin Modern Classics) Paperback – April 12, 2004
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"A supersharp mystery...confoundingly clever, and very funny." —Booklist, starred review
A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead…but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!
Winner of the Newbery Medal
Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award
An ALA Notable Book
"Great fun for those who enjoy illusion, word play, or sleight of hand." —The New York Times Book Review
"A fascinating medley of word games, disguises, multiple aliases, and subterfuges—a demanding but rewarding book." —The Horn Book
- Print length192 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level5 - 7
- Lexile measure750L
- Dimensions7.01 x 5 x 0.46 inches
- PublisherPuffin Books
- Publication dateApril 12, 2004
- ISBN-10014240120X
- ISBN-13978-0142401200
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Editorial Reviews
Review
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Introduction
Chapter 1 - SUNSET TOWERS
Chapter 2 - GHOSTS OR WORSE
Chapter 3 - TENANTS IN AND OUT
Chapter 4 - THE CORPSE FOUND
Chapter 5 - SIXTEEN HEIRS
Chapter 6 - THE WESTING WILL
Chapter 7 - THE WESTING GAME
Chapter 8 - THE PAIRED HEIRS
Chapter 9 - LOST AND FOUND
Chapter 10 - THE LONG PARTY
Chapter 11 - THE MEETING
Chapter 12 - THE FIRST BOMB
Chapter 13 - THE SECOND BOMB
Chapter 14 - PAIRS REPAIRED
Chapter 15 - FACT AND GOSSIP
Chapter 16 - THE THIRD BOMB
Chapter 17 - SOME SOLUTIONS
Chapter 18 - THE TRACKERS
Chapter 19 - ODD RELATIVES
Chapter 20 - CONFESSIONS
Chapter 21 - THE FOURTH BOMB
Chapter 22 - LOSERS, WINNER
Chapter 23 - STRANGE ANSWERS
Chapter 24 - WRONG ALL WRONG
Chapter 25 - WESTING’S WAKE
Chapter 26 - TURTLE’S TRIAL
Chapter 27 - A HAPPY FOURTH
Chapter 28 - AND THEN . . .
Chapter 29 - FIVE YEARS PASS
Chapter 30 - THE END?
Sunset Towers
The sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange!
Sunset Towers faced east and had no towers. This glittery, glassy apartment house stood alone on the Lake Michigan shore five stories high. Five empty stories high.
Then one day (it happened to be the Fourth of July), a most uncommon-looking delivery boy rode around town slipping letters under the doors of the chosen tenants-to-be. The letters were signed Barney Northrup.
The delivery boy was sixty-two years old, and there was no such person as Barney Northrup. . . .
“In [The Westing Game] the author shows once more that no one can beat her at intrigue, at concocting marvelous absurdities.”
—Publishers Weekly
OTHER TITLES AVAILABLE IN PREMIUM EDITIONS:
SPEAK
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
(a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre,
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Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Registered Offices: Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in the United States of America by E. P. Dutton,
a division of Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1978
Published by Puffin Books, 1992
Reissued, 1997
This edition published by Speak, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2008
Copyright © Ellen Raskin, 1978
ISBN: 9781101157459
■ FOR JENNY who asked for a puzzle-mystery ■ AND SUSAN K.
INTRODUCTION
Until 1970, Ellen Raskin was considered an illustrator, not an author, although she had written the texts of her notable picture books, such as Nothing Ever Happens on My Block; And It Rained; and Spectacles. And until 1969, I didn’t really know her, although when I was the children’s-book editor at Holt, Rinehart and Winston, she had illustrated Books: A Book to Begin On, by Susan Bartlett, and Come Along!, by Rebecca Caudill—as well as doing for us some of the one thousand book jackets of which she was so proud.
Our friendship really began in the smoking car (like the title character of Moe Q. McGlutch, Ellen smoked too much) of a Pennsylvania Railroad train en route from New York to Philadelphia, where we were both speaking on a panel. I stopped to say hello, and she said, “I’m sitting here alone because I’m so nervous. I hate speaking.” “I hate it, too,” I said, “and I’ve given up smoking.” In the depressed gloom that followed this exchange, the beginning of a bond was formed.
That same year I moved from Holt to E. P. Dutton. Their office was located at Union Square and Seventeenth Street, only a short walk from Ellen’s apartment on Eighth Street, and we got together more often. One day, Ellen confided that she had always wanted to adapt Goblin Market, by Christina Rossetti, as a picture-book text. I thought of the lavishly rich visual details of the poem, and I longed to see how she would illustrate it. ”Would you do the book for me?” I asked. “Yes,” she answered. “Jean [Jean Karl, her editor at Atheneum] doesn’t want it.” Ellen was always candid. So she did do it—her first book for Dutton. One of her exquisitely intricate paintings for that book now hangs on my wall.
We often talked about our lives, and I particularly loved stories about her family and how she and her parents and sister drove around the country during the Great Depression so her father could look for work, an epic safari that took them from Milwaukee to California. “You should write a book about growing up in the Depression,” I told her.
Product details
- Publisher : Puffin Books (April 12, 2004)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 192 pages
- ISBN-10 : 014240120X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0142401200
- Reading age : 9+ years, from customers
- Lexile measure : 750L
- Grade level : 5 - 7
- Item Weight : 4.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 7.01 x 5 x 0.46 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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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.
After slogging through, I’ve decided never to buy another product from this author. You would be wise to follow my lead
Happy Reading & thanks for the reco, Charlie!
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.
Top reviews from other countries
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 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.