I first picked up this book in high school, if I remember correctly, from the high school’s library. I fell in love almost immediately, and when I recently saw a copy at Half-Price Books I picked it up so that I could own it.

“The Westing Game” is a wonderful, clever and engaging book. It’s a murder mystery, a puzzle, and a treasure hunt, all in one, centered around the unique cast of characters that inhabit Sunset Towers apartments. The reader essentially becomes a participant in the mystery as we follow each character. There are bombs. There is death. There is a snowstorm. And there is a lot of shin-kicking.

One of the things I love about this book is that rereading it always brings up a little gem or tiny detail the brilliant author hid within its pages. Reading it as an adult yielded many insights I never picked up on as a teenager (and would have missed completely as a kid). I love the solution to the puzzle, and I especially love the ending. It does a good job of tying everything together and satisfying a child’s wish to know “what happened next” while still remaining bittersweet and grown-up.

A re-read. Still as much of a gem as I thought when I was in fourth grade, and there aren't many books I can say that about. The last scenes get me every time.

i know this is meant to be a childrens novel, but that thought never crossed my mind whilst reading this. it actually reminded me a lot of the film ‘clue’ - its mysteriously engaging, wildly eccentric, and dangerously witty. a very quick and fun read!

n  3.5 starsn

This is a classic children's mystery but I never heard of it until recently, so I decided to give it a go. I do think children would love it, as its main character is a 12 year old, nicknamed Turtle, who likes to kick people when she's upset. I didn't really understand the clues or the ending, but I enjoyed Turtle who is smart and sassy.

Unless you love driving chainsaws through your innards, please do not read The Westing Game. The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, is an extremely horrible clue-chasing mystery. The books main events take place in a 5-story apartment called Sunset Towers and the Westing Estate. The book takes place in Michigan around 1975. When reading the Westing Game, it is no more fun than jumping off a cliff for fun.
Barney Northrup, a sixty-two year old salesman, is selling apartment spaces in Sunset Towers to secretly selected sixteen people. These people all have connections with Samuel W. Westing and are his heirs. Soon after the sixteen settle in to Sunset Towers, Samuel W. Westing is presumed dead. The heirs are all called to the library in the Westing Estate for the reading of the will. Although the sixteen heirs are considered the main characters, the book focuses mainly on the Wexler family.
Grace Wexler is married to Jake Wexler, and they have two kids, Angela and Turtle. Grace is house decorator in her mid-forties. Jake is a podiatrist who now works in the lobby of Sunset Towers, since they moved there. Angela is a very calm person who is currently engaged to Denton D. Deere, also a doctor.
tOverall, the reason I really I really disliked this book was because how boring it was. I was literally sitting there turning a page every five minutes! I would not recommend this to anyone. Over the weeks, the clues still puzzle the heirs, and many events occur including bombs, injuries, parties, and more! Read The Westing Game (don’t) to find out what really happens. If you do choose to read The Westing Game , they have places for people like you.

Who were these people, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake.
…
Each pair in attendance will now receive an envelope containing a set of clues. No two sets of clues are alike. It is not what you have, it’s what you don’t have that counts.
…
“I remember the will said, ‘May God thy gold refine.’ That must be from the Bible.”
“Shakespeare,” Turtle replied. All quotations were either from the Bible or Shakespeare.

Sunset Towers is a new apartment building on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan. A mysterious man named Barney Northrup convinces a series of seemingly random people to move in. A few months later, on Halloween, Turtle Wexler sees smoke coming from the Westing mansion and the world soon learns that the reclusive millionaire Samuel W. Westing has died. More shocking, a few days later, the tenants of Sunset Towers are brought together for the reading of Mr. Westing’s will. The sixteen heirs are told that one of them took Mr. Westing’s life, and that whoever can use the clues they’ve been given to solve the puzzle will inherit Mr. Westing’s entire $200 million fortune and the Westing Paper Products Corporation.

I read The Westing Game for the 52 Book Club’s challenge to read a Newbery Medal Winner. I’m pretty sure I read it in grade school, but 40+ years later I can’t be sure. But that is the perfect audience for this novel. Turtle is a fun character to root for as the story unfolds. Many of the characters are not who or what they first seem to be. And it’s a good mystery, with endlessly vague clues that lead to constant reinterpretation, but do make sense in the final reveal. In fact, with different window dressing and some darker turns, this book could probably find an audience today as a mystery for adults. A solid read for the young at heart, and a great read for grade school kids ready for a fun, challenging read. Recommended.

The Westing Game is about 16 heirs competeing for Sam's Westing's inheritance. This book is a clever mystery full of excitement, danger. and suspicion. There are 8 teams, each team has a set of clues and together they must understand them. Together you must find out who Mrs. Westing is and who killed Sam Westing. You too may strike it rich, who dares to play...The Westing Game. We really loved this book it keeps you on your toes and every little thing matters. If you like a suspenseful, exciting book that you can't put down this book is for you. Remember: it's not what you have it's what you don't have that counts.-KMD, CMZ

"This is a great book, if you like books that are mysteries that follow one path and that you feel like you are helping solve, this would be a great book for you. It is just like a game as Sam Westing tries to determine his heir, and who is not worthy to be in the game any longer. You start to feel close to all of the characters during some of the best and most suspenseful moments. I highly recomend reading The Westing Game." -MKS

I am currently reading The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. It is about a game. Samuel Westing has invited 16 heirs to play in his game. The game will see who will win his vast fortune. Sam Westing may be dead but that is not stopping him from playing his last game. So far I am really enjoying this book. It is very suspenseful and most things that come up you would not expect at all. Around every corner is another surprise and I cant wait to solve the mystery. -JNM

So first and foremost and very much importantly, I do not all that much enjoy and have in fact never (since my childhood) really liked reading mysteries and in particular those that involve puzzles and needing to chase and find a whole bunch of hidden clues, and which is probably also why I never was at all much into reading either the Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys series as a younger reader (although yes, I do have a reading weakness for Mediaeval mysteries but actually only for those where the whodunnit aspect tends to mostly play a solid second fiddle role and to definitely not be as significant as setting, culture, time and place etc.). And well, considering that Ellen Raskin's 1979 Newbery Award winning middle grade mystery novel The Westing Game is both not at all historical in theme, in scope and also involves multiple puzzles and running, chasing after a plethora of clues (basically everything I do tend to find massively annoying, frustrating and tediously dragging with regard to mysteries), I have therefore also never been all that keen on trying to read The Westing Game and in fact only decided to finally consider trying it because we are reading The Westing Game this April in the Newbery Club of the Children's Literature Group (and I am trying to read as many Newbery winners as possible).

But no, although I do think that Ellen Raskin's presented narrative, that her story for The Westing Game is for the most part suspensefully and engagingly penned and that I do understand and appreciate why many young (and likely also many adult) mystery lovers have lastingly enjoyed (and likely remember with fondness and nostalgia) the encountered puzzles, trying to figure out the many clues and hints to finally be able to solve the Westing mystery, sorry, but for me, The Westing Game is simply way too much mystery, is just too much trying to figure out clues and who did what, is textually therefore really and massively personally uninteresting and a tedious reading slog, and so much so that I have in fact spent most of my reading hours only very cursively skimming through The Westing Game and at the same time wishing I was reading something else, almost anything else. And furthermore, aside from me not at all enjoying the entire premise of The Westing Game and finding Ellen Raskin's presented mysteries and clues (and which basically do seem to encompasses almost the whole entirety of The Westing Game) not only annoying and uninteresting but also often rather too clever for my tastes, there is in my humble opinion also a general undercurrent of encountered mean-spiritedness continuously present in The Westing Game that I have most definitely found rather majorly uncomfortable and nasty, and which is why for me, The Westing Game has not at all been even remotely a reading pleasure, and that in fact, my two star rating is not one star only because I do understand that I am not into mysteries and that for many readers, The Westing Game seems to be enjoyable and even often a cherished favourite.

This... iconic book. This may be one of the books I've reread most in my life. I love this book so much.

I don't even know what to say about this book other than it's one of my favorites ever. It somehow fits every age group - I appreciate it just as much now as when I was ten.

The Westing Game is a brilliant logic puzzle. It's a mystery with all the clues lined up, but you won't get the solution. Trust me, you won't. You'll just scream at the end when you figure everything out. I'm shocked that any author was able to develop the solution and set everything up so well. Every time I read this, I notice a new clue.

This book also succeeds because of its well-rounded characters. Turtle, Angela, Flora, JJ, and Ted are all well-developed, interesting characters. Frankly, all the characters are interesting and memorable, even with so many.

Recommended for MG and YA readers alike.

I read this in 5th grade and loved it and re-read it and YO IT STILL FUCKING SLAPS. Cannot believe this was written in 1978, it is so fresh and sharp. Ellen Raskin is more aware of microaggressions in 1978 than a lot of authors writing today are. Ellen Raskin's disabled kid character is treated with 500% more respect by the narrative than, e.g., Auggie from Wonder. (There is some dated language eg use of the word "retarded" and "Mongoloid" in clinical contexts.)

The introduction of my edition addresses that Ellen Raskin didn't know how to write for children so she just wrote short books for adults and it works. Like there are some concepts in here that honestly I didn't get when I was a kid and it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book at all then.

Also as you may know, I only like murder mysteries where it turns out that no one was actually murdered, so gold star here.

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THIS BOOK STILL FUCKING SLAPS, ALL-TIME BEST BESTSELLER

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller...

Really fun, and I know without hesitation what third or fourth grade me loved about it. I felt like maybe it dragged a tiny bit in the back half of the second act, but I think that's just me getting ahead of the narrative, and being a little out of the demo.

But if you're like 11 to 13? Holy crap, you're gonna love this book, and be on board with it pretty much from the first chapter. It was written in 1978, but it doesn't feel dated (other than the technology), and it ages very well. It has a diverse cast, which I didn't appreciate as a kid, because I didn't know any better, but which I deeply appreciate now. Much of it reads as brief vignettes, which made it very easy to pick up and put down.

I highly recommend this for young readers, and I highly recommend it a second time to adults who read it when we were kids.

Oh, my stars …

Sam Westing is a wealthy but secretive and intensely private industrialist (think Howard Hughes) who manipulates a group of seemingly unconnected people into all living in the same apartment building. A couple of months later his body is found in the Westing mansion, which the apartment building overlooks. All these people are invited to the mansion for the reading of Westing’s will. But it’s far from straightforward. The 16 heirs are paired, seemingly randomly, and each pair is given a $10,000 check with which to work. Each pair is also given clues – different clues for each pair – to the mystery of which one of those present actually took Sam Westing’s life. The will stipulates that the person who answers correctly will receive the entire $200,000,000 estate!

This is a fun premise and should have been a fun book. But it was tedious and disjointed. There was no tension or suspense. The characters were flat, and at times just plain ridiculous. The introduction in my edition gave some important clues to the mystery of this book. Her friend Ann Durell writes about Raskin’s last book, n  The Westing Gamen: “As always, I didn’t know what it would be about, because Ellen didn’t know herself. She said that if she knew what was going to happen in a book, she would be too bored to write it.” This lack of direction is all too evident in this book.

I had high hopes for this Newbery award winning mystery novel. After all, it was first published in 1978 and has remained popular all these years. I think its popularity over the years is entirely a result of the Newbery award. In my humble opinion it’s terrible. I grant it 1 star because the premise is interesting and there are a few (VERY few) snippets that were intriguing.