Ellen Raskin - The Westing Game: A Puzzle Mystery

Pros: Great story...interesting put me at the trying to fit the pieces together

Cons: none

The Bottom Line: Read it.

Review: I just finished reading the Westing Game, after a week of reading. I enjoyed this book from start to finish. I loved the characters from Judge J.J Ford to Sandy McSouthers to Turtle Wexler, very enjoyable. I felt scared when Angela Wexler got...

Pros: fun mystery book

Cons: none

Review: The Westing Game written by Ellen Raskin, I think is one of the best books of all time. A who-done-it, you-solve-it mystery. Barney Northrup, a apartment salesman sells the Sunset Towers apartments to various people, from a judge to a dressmaker. In...

Pros: Action; surprises; humor; SOME diversity in characters

Cons:

The term "Mongloid" is used.

The Bottom Line: A primo "for the first time around" read that is darn good the next time around; may inspire you to try to write your own mystery--Good Luck!

Review: I envy "Redlass" and all you others who read THE WESTING GAME as children, 'tweens, and young teens. I certainly don't envy you the way you feel "now," rereading it as adults and finding at least some of the magic gone. Is that one of the worst...

Pros: fun to read, puzzle is quite tricky

Cons: character stereotyping, plus there are just too darned many!

The Bottom Line: If you like a puzzle and you don't mind trying to keep track of numerous characters, this is fun light reading.

Review: Yet another month has passed and once again this Tuesday night it was book discussion night with my book club. Our October selection was The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, a young adult book and winner of the Newbery Medal in 1979.
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Pros: My all-time favorite book: great characters, intriguing mystery, and lots of wordplay

Cons: May be a little complex for some readers in the age bracket for which it is intended

Review: I've read The Westing Game about seven times since I first fell in love with it in the fifth grade. Each time I read it, I enjoy it for a different reason. At first it was the fun characters with appropriate names, like the future Angela Deere, the...

Pros: Well-developed characters, interesting plot, and a mystery that is tough to unravel

Cons: Can't think of any

Review: The Westing Game was undoubtedly my favorite book as a child. I can still remember the author's intricately planned course of action spreading out like a treasure map in my young mind the first time I opened the book. I'm not certain if it was my...

Pros: complicated mystery, eccentric characters

Cons: large, confusing cast of characters

The Bottom Line: Weird and wacky, it's an interesting, if far-fetched mystery with many memorable characters.

Review: In my quest to rediscover childhood favorites, I remembered Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game as being one of the quirky standouts. I was never very good at solving mysteries. Encyclopedia Brown beat me every time. Sherlock Holmes floored me...

Pros: Read this book to your kids, they'll love it...

Cons: but be careful that they don't turn into lawyers.

The Bottom Line: One of my favorite books when I was a kid.

Review: I have no idea how many books I read when I was a kid.

Hundreds certainly, maybe a thousand. I know I stretched the limits of the Grand Prairie Public Library's children's section; everything that was worth reading, anyway. I can't...

Pros: Excellent, entertaining mystery

Cons: Some characters are a bit two-dimensional, but still very fun to read

The Bottom Line: Great read for any fan of mysteries, comedies and children's books. (Publisher notes it's for age 9-12 - should be 9 and up!)

Review: A children's mystery classic, Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game is a remarkable whodunit, with a likable cast of characters and a complicated and enjoyable storyline.

Sixteen heirs are brought together by the will of an odd and quirky...