The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Themes: Mystery, Humor, Coming of Age, Character Relationships
Grade Level: 6-8
Curricular Connections: Literature (Red Herring, Character Development, Foreshadowing), Social Studies (Stock Market, Legal Wills, Court Proceedings)

This humorous mystery contains a complex plot with many twists and lots of suspense. The basic plot is about 16 supposed random characters who are all heirs in the will of Millionarie Sam Westing who owned a paper mill in Wisconsin. The eccentric will states that whoever solves the mystery of who murdered Sam Westing, wins. They are put into pairs and given clues on Westing House paper towels. Readers, along with the characters, will make many false assumptions and will be suprised by the unpredictable ending. Character development is as important as the plot.

Classroom Suggestions:

1. In literature class students could be taught concepts and terms such as red herring, character development, foreshadowing, and irony.

2. After chapter 8 students could make a bulletin board of characters and clues to help keep all 16 characters straight. As the characters are described indepth, students could draw or cut pictures out of magazines and place the characters on a bulletin board next to their partners. They could also put up each pairs' clues on actual paper towels next to their pictures.

3. Students could keep track of characters and events in a journal as they read. They could devote a page to each character keeping track of their partner, clues, occupation, who their family members are, and any suspicious behavior.

4. For Social Studies students could research or have a guest speaker to learn more about the stock market or legal concepts such as a will, court room proceedings, or supreme court judges.