The Westing Game

Last updated
The Westing Game
Westing cover.jpg
First edition
Author Ellen Raskin
Cover artistEllen Raskin
GenreMystery Fiction
Publisher E. P. Dutton
Publication date
May 1, 1978
Publication placeUnited States of America
Pages216 pg
ISBN 0-525-47137-5
OCLC 53292898
LC Class PZ7.R1817 We 2003

The Westing Game is a mystery book written by Ellen Raskin and published by Dutton on May 1, 1978. [1] It won the Newbery Medal recognizing the year's most distinguished contribution to American children's literature. [2]

Contents

The Westing Game was ranked number nine all-time among children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal in 2012. [3] It has been adapted as the 1997 feature film Get a Clue (also distributed as The Westing Game). [4]

Plot summary

Wealthy businessman Sam Westing dies. At the reading of his will, it is revealed that his named heirs are all tenants at the adjacent Sunset Towers apartment building. The will states that one of his heirs took Westing's life. The will is structured like a puzzle, with the 16 heirs paired off and challenged to find the solution. The pair that solves the mystery of his death will inherit Westing's entire $200,000,000 fortune and control of his company.

The Heirs

Pair One

  • Jake Wexler is a podiatrist, and a bookie on the side. He is married to Grace Wexler and is the father of Angela and Turtle Wexler.
  • Madame Sun Lin Hoo is the second and much younger Chinese immigrant wife of James Shin Hoo. She barely knows how to speak English. She can usually be found cooking in her husband's restaurant.

Pair Two

  • Tabitha-Ruth "Turtle" (TR) Wexler is an intelligent 13-year-old girl. She is very protective of her long, dark braid of hair and anyone who touches it gets a kick to the shin and a bruise.
  • Flora Baumbach is a shy 60-year-old dressmaker who becomes a maternal figure to Turtle.

Pair Three

  • Christos "Chris" Theodorakis is a 15-year-old boy who uses a wheelchair due to degenerative muscle disease. He is intelligent and enjoys birdwatching.
  • Dr. Denton Deere is a medical intern, engaged to Angela. To show off, he diagnoses everyone he meets.

Pair Four

  • Judge J.J. (Josie-Jo) Ford is an intelligent and serious black woman in her forties. She is suspicious of the game created by Sam Westing and believes that one of the heirs may be in danger.
  • Alexander "Sandy" McSouthers is the doorman at the Sunset Towers Apartments.

Pair Five

  • Grace Windsor Wexler, married to Jake Wexler and mother of Angela and Turtle.
  • James Shin Hoo is a former entrepreneur, the owner of the Hoo's restaurant chain, as well as Madame Hoo's husband and Doug's father.

Pair Six

  • Berthe Erica Crow, usually referred to as simply Crow, is the cleaning woman for Sunset Towers. She is extremely religious and also operates a downtown soup kitchen.
  • Otis Amber is a 62-year-old "delivery boy." He assists Crow with her soup kitchen.

Pair Seven

  • Theo Theodorakis is a smart high school student, and very loyal to his family. He is protective of his brother Chris and works hard in his parents' coffee shop. He is interested in becoming a writer, and also becomes friends with his partner, Doug Hoo.
  • Doug Hoo, son of James Shin Hoo, is a high school track star, one of the best mile-runners in the state. Running is his passion, but his father often criticizes him for not studying enough. He is a prankster and develops a rivalry with Turtle Wexler.

Pair Eight

  • Angela Wexler is a pretty twenty-year-old girl: fair, blonde, and very pretty. She is considered the 'perfect' daughter, often getting more attention than her sister Turtle.
  • Sydelle Pulaski is a mysterious character who seems to have no connection to Mr. Westing or the other heirs. It is revealed that she was mistaken for Sybil Pulaski, a friend of Crow who was supposed to have been an heir instead.

In the end, Crow is incorrectly declared to be the murderer, and she herself announces her name as the solution to the puzzle. She is the former wife of Sam Westing and her pressuring led to the death of her and Westing's daughter, Violet, because she didn't want to marry the man she was betrothed to.

However, Turtle discovers that Sam Westing faked his own death and has been directing the game all along using several different identities. Turtle follows the final clue (the "fourth") and tracks Westing down to where he is now living "at the crossroads" under the alias "Julian Eastman". Eastman/Westing/McSouthers/Barney Northrup declares Turtle to be the true winner of the Westing Game, but Turtle keeps this a secret. It is implied that Westing considered that his alter-ego Sandy McSouthers was the one who "took his life". Westing becomes Turtle Wexler's mentor and pays for her expensive education. Westing dies on the Fourth of July twenty years after the game is over.

Other media

The Westing Game, adapted to a stage play by Darian Lindle and directed by Terry Brino-Dean, was first produced at Prime Stage Theatre in Pittsburgh in 2009. The script is published by Dramatic Publishing. [5]

Get a Clue, adapted by Dylan Kelsey Hadley and directed by Terence H. Winkless, was produced for television in 1997. [4]

It was announced on September 9, 2020 that HBO Max had placed a script-to-series order based on the book. [6]

Reception

At the time of the book's publication, Kirkus Reviews called it "A supersharp mystery, more a puzzle than a novel, but endowed with a vivid and extensive cast... If Raskin's crazy ingenuity has threatened to run away with her on previous occasions, here the complicated game is always perfectly meshed with character and story. Confoundingly clever, and very funny." [7] In a retrospective essay about the Newbery Medal-winning books from 1976 to 1985, literary critic Zena Sutherland wrote of The Westing Game, "Still a popular book with the group of readers who are mystery or puzzle fans, in retrospect this seems more entertaining than distinguished. Its choice as a Medal book underscores the problematic question: Can a distinguished book also be a popular book?" [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Grey King</i> 1975 fantasy novel by Susan Cooper

The Grey King is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper, published almost simultaneously by Chatto & Windus and Atheneum in 1975. It is the fourth of five books in her Arthurian fantasy series The Dark is Rising.

<i>Clue Club</i> 1976 American TV series or program

Clue Club is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on CBS from August 14 to December 11, 1976.

Ellen Raskin was an American children's writer and illustrator. She won the 1979 Newbery Medal for The Westing Game, a mystery novel, and another children's mystery, Figgs & Phantoms, was a Newbery Honor Book in 1975.

<i>From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler</i> 1967 novel by E. L. Konigsburg

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a novel by E. L. Konigsburg. The book follows siblings Claudia and Jamie Kincaid as they run away from home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was published by Atheneum in 1967, the second book published from two manuscripts the new writer had submitted to editor Jean E. Karl.

<i>Summer of the Swans</i> 1970 novel by Betsy Byars

Summer of the Swans is a children's novel by Betsy Byars about fourteen-year-old Sara Godfrey's search for her missing, mentally challenged brother Charlie. It won the Newbery Medal in 1971.

<i>Up a Road Slowly</i> 1966 novel by Irene Hunt

Up a Road Slowly is a 1966 coming-of-age novel by American writer Irene Hunt, which won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature. This book is about a young child named Julie who grows from 7 to 17 years old with her aunt Cordelia and uncle Haskell in the country.

<i>The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues</i> 1975 novel by Ellen Raskin

The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues is a children's novel by Ellen Raskin, published in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelia Meigs</span> American childrens writer

Cornelia Lynde Meigs (1884–1973) was an American writer of fiction and biography for children, teacher of English and writing, historian and critic of children's literature. She won the Newbery Medal for her 1933 biography of Louisa May Alcott, entitled Invincible Louisa. She also wrote three Newbery Honor Books.

<i>Adam of the Road</i> 1942 childrens novel by Elizabeth Gray Vining

Adam of the Road is a novel by Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining. Vining won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1943 from the book. Set in thirteenth-century England, the book follows the adventures of a young boy, Adam. After losing his spaniel and minstrel father, Adam embarks on a series of escapades throughout medieval England. The book is illustrated by Robert Lawson.

<i>The White Stag</i> 1937 childrens book by Kate Seredy

The White Stag is a children's book, written and illustrated by Kate Seredy. It won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature and received the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. The White Stag is a mythical retelling that follows the warrior bands of Huns and Magyars across Asia and into Europe, including the life of Attila the Hun.

<i>Figgs & Phantoms</i> 1974 childrens novel

Figgs & Phantoms is a comic young adult novel written and illustrated by Ellen Raskin and published by Dutton in 1974. It was a Newbery Honor Book.

Get a Clue is a 1997 film based on the Newbery Medal-winning book The Westing Game.

<i>Fables</i> (Lobel book) 1980 picture book by Arnold Lobel

Fables is a children's picture book written and illustrated by American author Arnold Lobel. Released by Harper & Row in 1980, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1981.

<i>The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)</i> 1971 novel by Ellen Raskin

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) is a children's mystery novel by Ellen Raskin, published in 1971.

<i>Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice</i> 2008 video game

The Phantom of Venice is the 18th installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affect the plot of the game. The game is loosely based on the 1985 book of the same name.

<i>When You Reach Me</i> 2009 novel by Rebecca Stead

When You Reach Me is a Newbery Medal-winning science fiction and mystery novel by Rebecca Stead, published in 2009. It takes place on the Upper West Side of New York during 1978 and 1979 and follows a sixth-grade girl named Miranda Sinclair. After Miranda finds a strange note, which is unsigned and addressed only to "M," in her school library book, a mystery is set into motion—one which Miranda ultimately must face alone. At the same time, Miranda juggles school, relationships with her peers, and helping her mom prepare for an upcoming appearance on The $20,000 Pyramid, a popular game show hosted by Dick Clark. Important characters in the story include Miranda's mother; Richard, her mom's good-natured boyfriend; Sal, Miranda's childhood best friend; and a homeless man who lives on Miranda's block and is referred to only as "the laughing man." Central themes in the novel include independence, redemption, and friendship.

Rebecca Stead is an American writer of fiction for children and teens. She won the American Newbery Medal in 2010, the oldest award in children's literature, for her second novel When You Reach Me.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cicada 3301</span> Internet puzzle and mystery

Cicada 3301 is the name given to three sets of puzzles posted under the name "3301" online between 2012 and 2014. The first puzzle started on January 4, 2012, on 4chan and ran for nearly a month. A second round of puzzles began one year later on January 4, 2013, and then a third round following the confirmation of a fresh clue posted on Twitter on January 4, 2014. The third puzzle remains unsolved. The stated intent was to recruit "intelligent individuals" by presenting a series of puzzles to be solved; no new puzzles were published on January 4, 2015. A new clue was posted on Twitter on January 5, 2016. Cicada 3301 posted their last verified OpenPGP-signed message in April 2017, denying the validity of any unsigned puzzle.

<i>Three Times Lucky</i> 2013 novel by Sheila Turnage

Three Times Lucky is a 2013 New York Times Best Seller adolescent novel by author Sheila Turnage. Three Times Lucky was a Newbery Medal Honor Book in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Moon</span> American novelist

Grace Moon (1884–1947) was an American children's author, publishing many works on Native American themes. Her most notable work was Runaway Papoose, which won a Newbery Honor in 1929.

References

  1. "Kirkus Reviews" . Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. "Newbery Medal & Honor Books, 1922–Present". Association for Library Service to Children. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  3. Bird, Elizabeth (July 7, 2012). "Top 100 Chapter Book Poll Results". A Fuse #8 Production. Blog. School Library Journal (blogs.slj.com). Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  4. 1 2 Get a Clue! (1997) , retrieved 2020-02-21
  5. Dramatic Publishing
  6. "'Westing Game' Series Adaptation in the Works at HBO Max". 9 September 2020.
  7. "THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin". Kirkus Reviews . May 1, 1978. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  8. Sutherland, Zena (1986). "Newbery Medal Books 1976–1985". In Kingman, Lee (ed.). Newbery and Caldecott Medal Books 1976–1985. Boston: The Horn Book, Incorporated. p. 158. ISBN   0-87675-004-8.
Awards
Preceded by Newbery Medal recipient
1979
Succeeded by