The Westing Game
Reviewed by: Burnette Sunshine

Hiss! Boom! The bomb went off and the kitchen was a mess. This game was becoming more than a game, it was now a competition. Whoever wins gets the whole Westing estate. To find out more about the game and who will win read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.     The story takes place off the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. All the characters live in one building called Sunset Towers. It is a very wealthy building. It has its own door man, plush carpeting and its own restaurant. It is also a very dangerous place to live. Bombs go off, burglaries are committed, and a murderer lives among them all. In Sunset Towers something is always going on. Sydelle Pulaski, a character, craves attention and is always trying to get more; the doorman tells stories to the occupants of Sunset Towers; and Turtle Wexler is always kicking people in the shins for pulling her braid. There are sixteen participants in the game in all.     One of the characters is Turtle Wexler. She is bratty. She kicks people whenever they touch her braid, always complains that her mother doesn’t love her as much as her her sister, and doesn’t like to follow orders. Turtle is also a loudmouth. When her dad told her to go away while he talked to someone she said “No, that’s okay. I know you’re a bookie.” She also suspects people of stealing her Mickey Mouse clock, and whenever she thinks that person is around she talks about it. Turtle is pretty smart. She knows how to play the stock market, and she catches on pretty quickly.     The problem in the story is there is a murder. Mr. Westing has said that someone took his life from him in his will. He then wrote up clues for the sixteen possible heirs. The object of the game is to figure out who killed Mr. Westing. The murderer is one of the possible heirs. The sixteen people are paired off into eight teams. Whoever wins the game gets Mr. Westing’s whole estate.        At first the clues make no sense. Later, they still don’t. As the game goes on, it heats up. The tenants are snowed in their building and are always thinking about their clues. Also, bombs start to go off in the kitchen of the restaurant and in other parts of the building. Things start to disappear around the building, too. Turtle Wexler is missing her Mickey Mouse clock, and J.J. Ford is missing her father's golden pocket watch. Who will solve the mystery of who killed Mr.Westing?      I liked this book, but it wasn’t my favorite. It was a pretty good mystery with lots of twists and turns. I think the author did an excellent job of changing the perspective in the story. I do think the author could have had a few less things happening though. With so much going on, and with so many characters, it was a little hard to follow. I’d say this novel was right up there compared to other novels I’ve read. I would recommend this book to people who like to be in suspense and to people who don’t like to know  what’s going to happen next. To find out who killed Mr.Westing and who gets his estate read The Westing Game.