The Westing Game

This is another book I chose to read during the read-a-thon. Anyone that really knows me will know that I don't really read too much children's literature (besides Harry Potter, of course), but I picked this one up because I wanted a change of pace. I received just that. This book was such a fun read and reminded me of my childhood days, as this is just the kind of book I would have read when I was young. Actually, I'm quite surprised I never read this one as a child.

In this book, a millionaire Paper company owner, Mr. Westing, dies and his Sixteen heirs have to play a game invented by him. The game, which is layed out in his will, instructs the heirs that they must figure out who his murder is by the clues he left behind. What they soon find out is that the murder is one of the sixteen heirs, but who is it?

It was so much fun reading this and trying to figure out the murder along with the other characters. Maybe I'm slow, but I only realized who it was right before everyone else did. I did have lots of fun reading this and realized why this book was awarded the Newberry prize. Ellen Raskin has a knack for keeping the reader involved in the story. There were times when I was kind of reminded of the game Clue which was a favorite game of mine growing up (along with Guess Who?). I had lots of fun reading this one, and it made me realize that it's actually fun to read children's books occassionally. Apparently, I'm not the only one that enjoyed this one...

As Gene Shalit from The Today Show said about this novel, 'The Westing Game is wonderful-part mystery story, part play-along game, part do-it-yourself puzzle."

Booklist said, "A supersharp mystery...Confoundingly clever, and very funny."

Buy this one for your children or if, like me, you are wanting to morph into your childhood self for a while. Pick this one up and don't be embarrassed about it. As I found out, it's nice to feel like a child again.