Summary. What would you do for a chance for 200 million dollars? 16 people are given $10,000 to play the game that millionaire has left. In Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan, everyone is gathered to hear the will of millionaire Samuel W. Westing. The characters are set out to figure a puzzle out. There are grouped into pairs. “America the Beautiful” song lyrics are used to help solve the mystery and win the fortune. Secret identities are reviled and the true intent of the millionaire is exposed.
Impressions
One
reason I picked this book because my husband said it was one of his favorite books
when he was young. It was, for him at the time, a different
kind of mystery. Intrigue was created
when Sam W. Westing said in his will, “hereby swear that I did not die of
natural causes. My life was taken from
me.” That line could have many interpretations.
Over all I like the book and could see why my husband like the book when
he was growing up. Because of reading
fast, I did have a little difficult of a time keeping track of all 16
characters. I plan to re-read the story
this summer.
Reviews
Gr.
4-8. Sixteen people are invited to the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will,
launching a dangerous and often surprising game to determine who will inherit
his estate. Intricate clues, clever wordplay, and insightful humor highlight
this world-class whodunnit. The reissued edition features new cover art by
Kevin Hawkes and an introduction by Ann Durell. Copyright Booklist Publications
Jul 2006.
Weisman, K. (2006, The
westing game. Book Links, 15, 11-11. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/197212817?accountid=7113
A supersharp mystery, more a puzzle than a novel, but endowed
with a vivid and extensive cast. In the Christie tradition, Raskin isolates a
divers group of strangers--the mysteriously hand-picked tenants of a new
apartment building within sight of the old Westing mansion--and presents them
with the information that one of them is the murderer. Actually, it turns out
that there is no corpse, but no one is aware of that when they are all
assembled for a reading of old Westing's fiendish will, which pairs them all
off and allots each pair four one-word clues to the murderer's identity. As the
winning pair is to inherit Westing's fortune, there is much secret conferring,
private investigating, far-out scheming, and snitching and scrambling of the
teasing, enigmatic clues. (For example, those of black judge Josie Jo Ford,
which she takes for a racial insult, read SKIES AM SHINING BROTHER.) As a
result of the pairings, alliances are made and suspended, and though there is
no murderer there is a secret winner--the pigtailed youngest of the
"heirs"--plus extravagant happy endings for all. As Westing had
warned, all are not what they seem, and you the reader end up liking them
better than you expected to. 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.
The westing game. (1978).
Kirkus Reviews, Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/916900507?accountid=7113
Suggestions
This is a good book to discuss prediction. Trough out the reading of the book students could try and predict who the Westing heir is. Students can discuss the evidence within part of the book they have read so far to support their suggestions.
References
Raskin, E. (1978). The
westing game. E.P. Dutton.
http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/resources/2008/03/westinggame032808.jpg
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