The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, 1978.
It all starts when a mysterious person invites six sets of people to live in the new apartment building, Sunset Towers. Sunset Towers is a luxury apartment building, but the rent for these individuals and families is surprisingly affordable. That is because these people are special, and the owner of these apartments is preparing for a very special game. Although there doesn’t seem to be anything to tie these people together at first, they do share a special connection that isn’t immediately obvious, a connection to the wealthy but mysterious Samuel Westing.
Among the new tenants of Sunset Towers is young Turtle Wexler. Although she is often in the shadow of her overly-shy but pretty older sister, Angela, she has ambitions of her own in life. While her mother dreams of making it in high society, Turtle (whose real name is also something of a mystery to the other tenants for most of the book) wants to become a successful businesswoman when she grows up, and one of the things she wants most is a subscription to the Wall Street Journal. To raise the money she needs, Turtle accepts a bet to sneak into the supposedly empty Westing House on Halloween night, earning $2 for every minute she spends there. There are stories that the place is haunted and that Mr. Westing’s body lies rotting on an oriental rug there, but Turtle doesn’t believe them. As it turns out, she’s right. Instead, she finds Mr. Westing dead in bed.
To everyone’s surprise, the tenants of Sunset Towers are all named in the will, but not in an ordinary way. In order to determine who the final heir will be, they must all play The Westing Game. The heirs are divided up into teams of two and given $10,000 and a set of clues. They must use these to give an answer at the end. But, what kind of an answer? Mr. Westing’s will implies that he was murdered, but is that really true? Could his murderer even be among the heirs/game players?
As the book continues, readers learn more about each of the contestants. Each of them has their own personalities, ambitions, and problems. For example, Angela Wexler is about to be married but seems less than enthusiastic about the wedding. Cristos Theodorakis suffers from a strange malady that keeps him confined to a wheelchair. Sydelle Pulaski was actually invited to join the tenants by mistake, but it might be the best mistake of her life. Mr. Hoo is worried about his restaurant, and Madame Hoo dreams of returning to China.
The competition is fierce in the Westing Game. Players are suspicious of other players cheating. Things around the apartments start disappearing, and some mysterious person has even started planting explosives in unlikely places! Whether the thefts and explosions have anything to do with the contest itself is for the reader to discover, but there is an answer to the Westing Game, and only one of the contestants will discover it.
The book is a Newbery Award winner. There is a movie version of the book called Get a Clue! (1997), although it doesn’t follow the book completely. There are multiple copies of the book currently available online through Internet Archive.
My Reaction
One of the great things about the Westing Game is how the seemingly mismatched pairs of contestants actually complement each other, giving people new perspectives on their lives and the answers to problems that some of them have been struggling with. Lonely Flora Baumbach, grieving for her deceased daughter, is paired with young Turtle, who finds in her a more motherly person than her own mother, someone who values her for her intelligence and her unique skills in a way that no one else does. Mrs. Baumbach enjoys having someone to care for again, and Turtle blossoms under her care and attention. Mr. Hoo, meanwhile, finds some unexpected support for his business from Mrs. Wexler, who develops broader interests in life than her previous social ambitions and an unexpected flair for business and marketing. Judge Ford, who was educated by Mr. Westing and always worried about how to repay the debt, finally finds a way to repay his kindness, a way that Mr. Westing would have approved. Bertha Crow, an unhappy woman who turned to religion to atone for past sins, finds new happiness with someone who understands and accepts her past and is willing to help her continue her good works. Even Angela, who seems to have everything a young girl would want (good looks and a kind fiance with a promising future in medicine), figures out what she really wants in life and finds the courage to stand up for it.
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck, 2000.
A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck, 1998.
Tornado Jones by Trella Lamson Dick, 1953.
Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kastner, 1969.
Through the rest of the summer, the girls discuss their lives and parents in great detail and continue speculating about the reasons for their parents’ separation and why they were never told about each other’s existence. They are somewhat angry at their parents for not telling them the truth, but they each also want to know more about the parent that they have never really known and perhaps to learn the truth behind their parents’ separation. They begin hatching a plot to switch places so that Lottie can go to Vienna to meet their father and Lisa can go to Munich to be with their mother. They get little notebooks and fill them with as many details of their lives as they can think of so that each girl can seem to behave like the other, although they know it won’t be easy because they’ve lived very different lives. They don’t like the same foods, and Lottie knows how to cook, but Lisa doesn’t.
Lisa is overjoyed to finally meet her mother in Munich. But, her mother has to work very hard as a photographic editor for a newspaper, and they don’t have much money. Lisa isn’t as good at cooking or taking care of household chores as Lottie is, so she finds it difficult to help, although she learns quickly.
The book is much less of a comedy than either of the two Disney movies, although there are some funny parts, like when Lottie (as Lisa) takes over the household accounts to stop Rosa’s stealing and ends up turning her into a much better housekeeper with her practicality. Surprisingly, Rosa actually starts respecting her more and even liking her better because of it.
Susan’s Magic by Nan Hayden Agle, 1973.
One of the things at the sale which especially captures Susan’s attention is a small stuffed toy elephant. The elephant is very worn, and Susan feels sorry for him, wanting to take him home and take care of him. However, her money is gone, and she still has no present for her mother. Then Mrs. Gaffney spots her looking sad and offers to lend her the 25 cents she would need to buy the elephant. Although Susan has reservations about accepting such a loan, she does anyway, telling Mrs. Gaffney that she’ll pay her back.
In spite of the talk about magic and witches, this is not a fantasy story at all. Susan’s concept of magic has more to do with a way of living, dealing with change, and solving life’s problems. For the first part of the book, Susan’s “magic” focuses on getting what she wants for herself and getting things to work out the way she wants them to. But, as the book goes on, Susan matures in the way she deals with the complications in her life.
#4 Mandie and the Forbidden Attic by Lois Gladys Leppard, 1985.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 