The Westing Game
I first heard of The Westing Game, I think, in a comment left by my old bloggy friend, Wendy. (She’s not old, just quit blogging, so she’s not a current bloggy friend, right? I miss her writing, actually.)
Based on her loving the book as a kid, I bought it for Maya and put it on her bookshelf. It has thus far failed to capture her interest, so it’s just been sitting there, waiting. When I signed up for the Herding Cats reading challenge, I saw this book on the list, and thought it was a good chance to read it.
The Westing Game is the story surrounding the death of Sam Westing, an eccentric millionaire who leaves behind clues to his murder. He suspected that he might be murdered, and thus put together a puzzle for 16 people to solve, most of whom live in an apartment building next to his house. Almost all of them have some connection to Westing in their lifetime. The person who solves his murder, the story goes, will inherit the millions.
The main character is Turtle Wexler, a middle school student with a long braid and a penchant for kicking people (hard) in the shins. She’s the most likable character, and the one you’re rooting for all along. The other characters are (mainly) the other participants in the mystery.
I enjoyed getting to know the many characters, their complexities, and their motivations. But honestly, I didn’t feel truly drawn to any of them, and didn’t care much how the story ended. It was a satisfying mystery (I’m not much of a mystery fan, though), and well told, just not great. Would I recommend the book? Sure, in a half-hearted way. But not with the same enthusiasm I would have in recommending The Book Thief, A Little Princess, or Number the Stars. All much better, in my opinion.
6 Comments
Lalunas
This sounds like a cool book. May be when Maya finishes it, she will let you Auntie La luna check it out..
Starshine
Speaking of book recommendations, Hubs and I rented “Persepolis” (the movie) this week. It was wonderful…thanks for bringing it to my attention!
LauraH
I have been looking for summer reading, to read aloud with James. This one could be perfect. It is not often that I don’t think of you and hope you are doing well. I feel the need, today, to thank you for all of the support you have given so freely during my trainwreck. You are a good person and you have no idea how much your comments (whether good or bad) help.
--Deb
I read that for the first time last summer (or thereabouts) and enjoyed it–loved the premise–though I agree that Turtle was the most engaging character. It’s particularly nice to see a book for youngsters that has a complex plot. Lots of interweaving pieces to work together rather than just a straight-forward story. But then, I love books like that myself.
And, really, can anything compare with “A Little Princess?”
Ted
I’m surprised they haven’t made a movie of this yet. It’s one of those books that sounds like they could market as a movie to tween audiences. 🙂
J
Laura, right back atcha on the support. The support of my online friends has been really helpful.
Ted, I thought that a few times when I was reading the book myself, so I looked on IMDB, and someone did try:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120495/usercomments
It was a TV movie, I think. The comments people left seem to suggest that it sucked, and that there were too many characters and plot twists in the book to make a cohesive film. It does seem like if it were well done, it might be interesting.