The Westing Game facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The Westing Game

First edition
Author	Ellen Raskin
Country	United States
Genre	Mystery Fiction
Publisher	E. P. Dutton
Publication date	1978
Pages	216 pg
ISBN	0-525-47137-5
OCLC	53292898
LC Class	PZ7.R1817 We 2003

The Westing Game is a popular mystery book written by Ellen Raskin. It was published in 1978 and quickly became a favorite. This book even won the Newbery Medal, which is a special award for the best American children's literature of the year.

Many people love The Westing Game. In 2012, a survey by School Library Journal named it the best children's novel of all time! The story was also made into a movie in 1997 called Get a Clue.

Solving the Westing Mystery

The story begins at Sunset Towers, a new apartment building right by Lake Michigan. It's close to the huge mansion of a very rich man named Samuel W. Westing. Mr. Westing made his money from paper products. He was known for being very patriotic and living a healthy life.

A salesperson named Barney Northrup sells apartments in Sunset Towers to a special group of people. Soon after, Mr. Westing dies. His will reveals a big surprise: most of the people living in Sunset Towers are named as his heirs!

The will is like a giant puzzle. Sixteen heirs are challenged to solve it. They are split into eight pairs, and each pair gets $10,000 and a set of confusing clues. The pair that solves the mystery will inherit Mr. Westing's huge fortune of $200 million and control of his company.

Meet the Heirs

Pair One: Jake and Madame Hoo

• Jake Wexler is a foot doctor. He also takes bets on the side. He is married to Grace Wexler and is the father of Angela and Turtle.
• Madame Sun Lin Hoo is from China and is married to James Shin Hoo. She is a great cook in her husband's restaurant. She doesn't speak much English. She tries to steal things to sell them so she can go back to China.

Pair Two: Turtle and Flora

• Tabitha-Ruth Wexler, usually called Turtle, is a very smart 13-year-old. She is very protective of her long braid. If you touch it, you might get a kick! She is good at playing the stock market. Turtle becomes good friends with her partner, Flora Baumbach, and the doorman, Sandy McSouthers. She secretly solves the whole mystery.
• Flora Baumbach is a kind 60-year-old dressmaker. She becomes like a mother figure to Turtle. Flora is gentle and always tries to see the good in people. Turtle calls her "Baba."

Pair Three: Chris and Denton

• Christos "Chris" Theodorakis is a 15-year-old boy who uses a wheelchair because of a muscle condition. He is very smart and loves birdwatching. His brother, Theo, looks out for him. Chris is more observant than people realize.
• Dr. Denton Deere is a 25-year-old medical student. He is engaged to Angela Wexler. He likes to try and figure out what's wrong with everyone he meets. Turtle thinks he's a bit of a "know-it-all."

Pair Four: Judge Ford and Sandy

• Judge J.J. (Josie-Jo) Ford is a smart and serious woman in her forties. She is suspicious of Mr. Westing's game. Instead of wanting to win, she wants to learn about the past of every heir. She grew up with Mr. Westing paying for her education.
• Alexander "Sandy" McSouthers is a 65-year-old doorman at Sunset Towers. He knows a lot of gossip about the building. He becomes very close to Turtle Wexler.

Pair Five: Grace and James Hoo

• Gracie Windsor Wexler is married to Jake Wexler and is the mother of Angela and Turtle. She cares a lot about how she looks. She often favors Angela over Turtle. Grace wants to be an interior designer.
• James Shin Hoo owns Shin Hoo's restaurant. He is also Madame Hoo's husband and Doug's father. He believes Mr. Westing stole his idea for a disposable diaper. He often complains and tells his son to study more.

Pair Six: Crow and Otis

• Berthe Erica Crow, known as Crow, is a very religious 57-year-old woman. She cleans Sunset Towers and also runs a soup kitchen for people who need help. She was once married to Sam Westing.
• Otis Amber is a 62-year-old "delivery boy." He often helps Crow at her soup kitchen. Later, it's discovered he was a private investigator hired to look into some of the heirs.

Pair Seven: Theo and Doug

• Theo Theodorakis is a smart high school student. He is very loyal to his family and protects his brother Chris. He works in his parents' coffee shop and wants to be a writer. He becomes friends with his partner, Doug Hoo.
• Doug Hoo is James Shin Hoo's son and a high school track star. Running is his passion. His father often tells him to study more. Doug likes to play pranks and often pulls Turtle's braid.

Pair Eight: Angela and Sydelle

• Angela Wexler is a beautiful 20-year-old girl. She is seen as the 'perfect' daughter. People often see her only for her looks, not for her intelligence. She is the one who causes some explosions in the building, but her sister Turtle takes the blame to protect her.
• Sydelle Pulaski is a mysterious character. She feels ignored, so she tries to get attention by pretending to be hurt and using brightly painted crutches. She is clever and observant, even though people don't always notice.

Other Important People

• Barney Northrup is the person who sells the apartments in Sunset Towers. He seems like a good businessman, but he is rarely seen.
• Julian R. Eastman runs Westing Paper Products when Mr. Westing is not there. He is a witness to Mr. Westing's will.
• Dr. Sidney Sikes is a friend of Samuel W. Westing and also a witness to his will. He seems to be part of Mr. Westing's big plan.
• Edgar Jennings Plum is the young lawyer in charge of Mr. Westing's will. He reads the will to the heirs but doesn't play a part in the game itself.
• Mr. and Mrs. Theodorakis run the coffee shop in Sunset Towers. They are Chris and Theo's parents. They don't play the game, but Mr. Theodorakis knew Violet Westing, Mr. Westing's daughter.

What Happens Next

The last part of the book tells us what happens to the heirs after the game ends.

• Otis Amber and Crow get married. They leave their jobs at Sunset Towers to work full-time at Crow's soup kitchen. Many of the heirs donate money to help them.
• Flora Baumbach stops being a dressmaker. She becomes a close friend to Turtle and later becomes the nanny for Angela and Denton's daughter, Alice.
• Denton Deere and Angela Wexler decide to go their separate ways for a while. Denton becomes a brain doctor after helping Chris Theodorakis. Angela goes to medical school to become a surgeon. Five years later, they get back together, marry, and have a daughter named Alice.
• Judge Ford helps pay for Chris's education. She becomes a judge in a very high court.
• Sun Lin Hoo stays with her husband and learns to speak English very well. She becomes James's helper in his new company. After he passes away, she visits China but then comes back to run the family business.
• James Hoo stops running his restaurant. He creates a new invention for shoe soles and becomes very rich. He moves out of Sunset Towers with his family. His wife takes over his company after he dies.
• Doug Hoo wins his first Olympic gold medal in running and sets a new record. He wins two more medals after that. After he stops running, he becomes a popular sports announcer.
• Chris Theodorakis learns to manage his muscle condition thanks to Denton's research. He still uses a wheelchair but goes to college, paid for by Judge Ford. He meets a girl named Shirley, and they get married and become professors. Chris even discovers a new type of parrot!
• Sydelle Pulaski goes back to her old job. She finds out her boss, Mr. Schultz, likes her. They get married and move to Hawaii. Sydelle stays in touch with Angela.
• Jake Wexler isn't happy as a foot doctor. Judge Ford helps him get a job in politics. He becomes important in state government, but these jobs mean he doesn't have much time with his wife.
• Grace Wexler takes over Jimmy Hoo's restaurant and renames it "Hoo's on First." It becomes very successful, and she opens a chain of ten restaurants. This allows her to work closer to her husband.
• Theo Theodorakis goes to college to study writing. He becomes a novelist. He marries Turtle Wexler. They decide not to have children because of Chris's condition.
• Turtle Wexler solves the game by finding out Sam Westing's secret. She becomes his successor and later the president of Westing Paper Products. She goes to college early and makes a lot of money in the stock market. Turtle marries Theo Theodorakis and teaches Angela and Denton's daughter, Alice, how to play chess.
• Alexander "Sandy" McSouthers is actually Samuel Westing, Barney Northrup, and Julian Eastman! He becomes Turtle Wexler's mentor. He pays for her education and plays chess with her every Sunday. He passes away on the Fourth of July, twenty years after the game ends.
• Samuel W. Westing is the person who created The Westing Game. He is also Sandy McSouthers, Julian R. Eastman, and Barney Northrup.

Other Ways to Enjoy the Story

The Westing Game has been made into other forms of entertainment.

• A play based on the book was first performed in Pittsburgh in 2009.
• The movie Get a Clue was made for television in 1997.
• In 2020, it was announced that HBO Max is planning to make a TV series based on the book.