"The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

This is one of my favorite books.  I have a strict rule of not allowing myself to read it more than once every 5+ years because that way, I won't fully remember it, and every re-read will still have a bit of surprise to it.

I'm having my 3rd-6th graders read this for our homeschool co-op, which gave me a great reason to re-read it myself.  Neither of my kids in that group had read it before, and it's been so much fun watching them experience this mystery.  My almost-11-yr-old read the whole thing in one day, then re-read his favorite parts endlessly for the next week.  My 8-yr-old finished it this afternoon, and I think she's found a new heroine in Turtle Wexler.

The Westing Game is called a "puzzle mystery" because all the major characters have to work together to solve a strange puzzle set forth by a man named Sam Westing.  They all live in an apartment building Westing owned, and when he dies, they're all named in his will.  But they have to play this game to inherit their share of his millions.  

Initially, they all think they're strangers, but it turns out many of them are connected in ways they're not aware of, which is another part of what makes this book fun.  But what really makes me love it is Turtle Wexler, the main character.  She's a wildly intelligent girl with a passion for the stock market and for kicking anyone who annoys her in any way.  She's very good at both.  In fact, she's very good at everything except understanding adults, and since she's just a middle-schooler, who can blame her there.  (To be honest, I don't understand adults much myself.)

I really don't want to say much more about this book because it's full of so many delicious surprises, I don't want to spoil any of them!  

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some danger and spookiness and mild violence (mostly kicking people in the shin).  No bad words or dodgy content.

This is my 7th book read and reviewed for the Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge and my first for the Reams of Rereads event.