The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin (Dutton, 1978.)
For writers, The Westing Game is murder. It is simply the best mystery, best juvenile novel, best anything ever written. I cried at the end. How often can you say that about a mystery? I cried because it was touching. I should have cried because I could never write like that. It made me feel like a five year old who still sticks her bottom out when she plies watching a ballerina piroette in toe shoes on a ballerino's head. (If your mom forwarded you the Chinese Swan Lake video, you know what I'm talking about.)
Raskin amazingly juggles 16 characters who are playing the Westing Game, and they all have their own touching and at times hilarious personalities. They first come together to live in an apartment building overlooking the old Westing House. (A salesperson has given them a great deal.) Next, they are summoned for the reading of Samuel Westing's will. There, they learn that the millionaire's life was taken from him. Westing has divided them into pairs in order to solve the mystery--presumably of who killed him.
Living and working together to solve crimes, the apartment tenants become a tightknit community--albeit a competitive one, as whoever solves the mystery will win the Westing inheritance. Interestingly, the pairs seem perfect for each other. Flora Baumbach, who lost her daughter, is paired with Turtle, for instance, whose mother favors her older sister.
All the characters are given clues, and it's hilarious to see how they use them. Turtle, for instance, is convinced she is supposed to invest in the stock market based on the clues.
As the game nears an end, readers are hit with one twist after another. I thought I had the whole thing solved, but was duped!
More than a mystery, this book is a character study--of 16 people! I like that it showed both their flaws (Mr. Hoo is a grump, for instance, and Grace Wexler, a social climber) but also their good points (Mr. Hoo is a brilliant inventor and proud father and Grace Wexler ends up being a shrewd business woman--and an introspective person.) In the end, they bring out the best in each other, which may have been Mr. Westing's intention.
In the 25th anniversary edition introduction, editor Ann Durell described Raskin, who passed away in 1984 at age 56, as a brilliant woman, not only talented in writing, but also art and the stock market. She wrote The Westing Game as she went along, not plotting the clues and twists before hand. Amazing.
The Verdict: Book Heaven
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Red Blazer Girls
Next up: The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour, by Michael D. Beil (Knopf, 2009.) Sophie, Margaret, and Rebecca are seventh graders at St. Veronica's, a Catholic girls school where they are forced to wear red blazers (hence the name of the series.)
I, too, attended a Catholic girls school and would like to take this moment to personally thank the Sisters of St. Joseph for not making us wear blazers (though we did wear plaid skirts.)
Sophie is in class when she sees a ghostly woman in the window of the adjoining church. She and her friends investigate, and find Ms. Harriman, who is not a ghost but does need help. She has just found a 20-year-old note written to her daughter. It is from the girl's grandfather, who has since died. The note introduces a series of riddles that will lead the girl to her birthday present. The "girl" is now in her thirties and is estranged from her mother. Ms. Harriman asks Sophie and her friends to solve the riddles and find the present, which is likely a valuable treasure since the grandfather was an archeologist.
As the girls solve riddles that involve literature, theater, and math, they are helped by a teacher (who claims his personal hero is the severe Charles Dickens schoolmaster Thomas Gradgrind, but is in fact a nice guy.) However, for the most part, these academic overachievers solve the riddles on their own.
I liked that this mystery is largely set at the school and church, and their nearby hangout Perkatory--a coffee shop that plays on the old Catholic belief in a place between heaven and hell, where incidently, my cousin believes my late aunt resides. (Purgatory. Not the coffee shop.) I mean, I'm sure a lot of us are going to purgatory, if there is such a thing. But it was the first time I'd heard someone be like: She's happy now. She's in purgatory.
Anyway, this allows, the girls to solve the mystery independently. When the girls' parents are introduced, they are loving, normal adults, that come from somewhat economically diverse backgrounds. Rebecca's mother, for instance, has lost her job as a nurse, which means Rebecca might not get to attend private school next year. I appreciated this portrayal of Catholic school. From my experience, Catholic schools aren't schools for rich kids, they're schools where some parents often pay their last penny to ensure a good education for their kids.
I also enjoyed the plot twist in which somebody else is after the treasure. Is it Ms. Harriman's ex-husband, or somebody else? Honestly, I thought Ms. Harriman was using the girls to steal the treasure all along. She just seemed too kooky to be for real. But as it turned out, she was really just kooky.
Sadly, nobody got murdered in this book. I am trying to review murder mysteries. Happily, this was such a good mystery that it didn't even need a murder. The riddles and word play for some reason reminded me of The Westing Game, perhaps because I am obsessed with that book and everything reminds me of it. It also reminded me of my own Granddad, who wrote quizzes and riddles for me to solve, though, admittedly, they never led to treasure...or did they? Maybe I just never solved the clues. Either way, I did treasure them. They were way over my head, and I appreciated my Granddad thinking I was smarter than I really was. (Where is a friend like Margaret--the smartest of the Red Blazer girls--when you need her?)
One last word, I mentioned these girls are smart. They really drove home that line from What a Wonderful World--"They'll learn much more than I'll ever know." In that way, it differed from The Westing Game, in which characters illustrated the more spacey/distracted problem solving abilities that I am more familiar with.
The verdict: This book is as smart and adorable as its three main characters.
I, too, attended a Catholic girls school and would like to take this moment to personally thank the Sisters of St. Joseph for not making us wear blazers (though we did wear plaid skirts.)
Sophie is in class when she sees a ghostly woman in the window of the adjoining church. She and her friends investigate, and find Ms. Harriman, who is not a ghost but does need help. She has just found a 20-year-old note written to her daughter. It is from the girl's grandfather, who has since died. The note introduces a series of riddles that will lead the girl to her birthday present. The "girl" is now in her thirties and is estranged from her mother. Ms. Harriman asks Sophie and her friends to solve the riddles and find the present, which is likely a valuable treasure since the grandfather was an archeologist.
As the girls solve riddles that involve literature, theater, and math, they are helped by a teacher (who claims his personal hero is the severe Charles Dickens schoolmaster Thomas Gradgrind, but is in fact a nice guy.) However, for the most part, these academic overachievers solve the riddles on their own.
I liked that this mystery is largely set at the school and church, and their nearby hangout Perkatory--a coffee shop that plays on the old Catholic belief in a place between heaven and hell, where incidently, my cousin believes my late aunt resides. (Purgatory. Not the coffee shop.) I mean, I'm sure a lot of us are going to purgatory, if there is such a thing. But it was the first time I'd heard someone be like: She's happy now. She's in purgatory.
Anyway, this allows, the girls to solve the mystery independently. When the girls' parents are introduced, they are loving, normal adults, that come from somewhat economically diverse backgrounds. Rebecca's mother, for instance, has lost her job as a nurse, which means Rebecca might not get to attend private school next year. I appreciated this portrayal of Catholic school. From my experience, Catholic schools aren't schools for rich kids, they're schools where some parents often pay their last penny to ensure a good education for their kids.
I also enjoyed the plot twist in which somebody else is after the treasure. Is it Ms. Harriman's ex-husband, or somebody else? Honestly, I thought Ms. Harriman was using the girls to steal the treasure all along. She just seemed too kooky to be for real. But as it turned out, she was really just kooky.
Sadly, nobody got murdered in this book. I am trying to review murder mysteries. Happily, this was such a good mystery that it didn't even need a murder. The riddles and word play for some reason reminded me of The Westing Game, perhaps because I am obsessed with that book and everything reminds me of it. It also reminded me of my own Granddad, who wrote quizzes and riddles for me to solve, though, admittedly, they never led to treasure...or did they? Maybe I just never solved the clues. Either way, I did treasure them. They were way over my head, and I appreciated my Granddad thinking I was smarter than I really was. (Where is a friend like Margaret--the smartest of the Red Blazer girls--when you need her?)
One last word, I mentioned these girls are smart. They really drove home that line from What a Wonderful World--"They'll learn much more than I'll ever know." In that way, it differed from The Westing Game, in which characters illustrated the more spacey/distracted problem solving abilities that I am more familiar with.
The verdict: This book is as smart and adorable as its three main characters.
Friday, May 21, 2010
100 Mysteries for Kids
I'm a children's book writer. The other day, my son's friend said to me, "Mrs. Heos, you should write a series. That's where the real money is."
By series, he meant a mystery series for kids. He said that he and my son should be the main characters, and, for one reason or other, it would be their job to solve murders.
Good idea, I thought. But for now, I'm up to my ears in nonfiction.
Turns out, that boy is very tenacious.
Everytime he sees me, he asks, "Have you started writing your series yet?"
"Not yet," I say. See, I like what I already write. Nonfiction is a lot of fun.
Then, the other day, he said, "Mrs. Heos, if you wrote that series, you guys could move into my neighborhood."
Ah, this is what we call motive. If I write a series, we can afford the friend's more expensive neighborhood, making it easier for him to play with my son. Well, that's kind of sweet.
So I decided to try it. Only before I can write a mystery series, I have to write a mystery, and before I can do that, I have to read 100 mysteries for kids (or mysteries4kids.blogspot.com). I don't know what it is about this formula, but it works. If you want to write something, first you have to read 100 of that thing. Unless you're a superstar genious writer, which I'm not. I'm a regular writer. (Meaning that I sometimes write brochures.)
This blog will be about the 100 mysteries for kids that I read. They will be classic or contemporary, Edgar Award winning or not, series or standalone. Mainly, they will be books written for a third-eighth grade audience. They will primarily be murder mysteries. Reason being: I love murder mysteries. In my favorite story, somebody solves a murder simply by overhearing something like "Eight miles is a long way to walk to the rain." My hero, as a kid, was Angela Lansbury. My dream husband was Columbo.
Plus, when I asked my son and his friend if the kids in my "series" should solve kid mysteries or murder mysteries, "murders" got the resounding vote.
I don't know if reading 100 mysteries for kids will make me a mystery writer. Writing a novel is daunting and having it twist and turn like mysteries do, yikes! But I love mysteries and writing, so I think it is worth a try.
Without further chit-chat, the first book I read was The View from the Cherry Tree, by Willo Davis Roberts (published in 1975.)
Rob Mallory escapes to a perch in a cherry tree whenever he is bored or tired of doing chores. (His mother is busy preparing for his sister Darcy's wedding, so there is lots to do.) Meanwhile, he tries to avoid his grumpy neighbor, Mrs. Calloway, who is angry that his cat trespasses on her lawn. One night, she goes so far as beating Rob with a broom when he chases the cat onto her porch.
The next day, Rob watches from the cherry tree as a man pushes Mrs. Calloway out the window. It is a short fall, but Mrs. Calloway is wearing binoculars around her neck(to spy on her neighbors, naturally.) She dies of strangulation. Essentially, she has been murdered.
Rob tries to tell his family, but everyone thinks he is putting them on. (Rob is a bit of a fibber.) More importantly, they have a wedding to attend to. Sorry, Robbie, no time for murders! We must marry off Darcy at all costs!
After witnessing the murder, Rob suspects the killer is after him. I don't know why he would think that. It's not like a potted plant nearly falls on his head or that he is shot at in his own backyard. Oh, wait. Both happen. But his family still thinks it's an accident. (Again, if somebody shot at my son, all holy hell would break lose. And by that, I do not mean I would call my husband to make sure he'd picked up the champaigne for the rehearsal dinner.)
As a grownup, the constant refusal of Robbie's parents to listen to him felt a little unrealistic. I mean, if my son told me he'd witnessed a murder, I might put down my dress alterations for five seconds and hear him out. However, from a kid's perspective, it makes sense. Grownups always seem preoccupied, especially when there is a big event at hand. Plus, with this wedding, everything that can go wrong does, mostly due to a cast of relatives that have never heard of RSVP-ing for a wedding (but seem nice other than that.)
Once I got past my grownup skepticism, Rob's parents' unwillingness to listen took on a nightmarish aura. They seem like good parents. The fact that they don't pick up on his impending doom hit me hard. It's that realization you get as a kid: It may seem like you're taken care of, but at any time, you can be all alone like anybody else. Not to get depressing, but we're talking murder, people.
Rob's situation comes to a head when he is chased by the murderer--an exciting scene! Obviously, in the end, his parents feel terrible that they'd ignored his pleas. (Though the wedding goes off without a hitch, so all's well that ends well, I guess.)
I loved this mystery. I liked that Rob was alone while being in the midst of family and friends gathered for the wedding. And I liked Rob, loved him actually...eventually.
Prior to the murder, I thought he was a bit of a Debbie Downer. It's a wedding, Rob, not a funeral! But after the murder, his pessimistic (realistic?) perspective on life made me feel for him so much. When one of the visiting cousins (a toddler) destroys something in Rob's room and he gets mad (which brings the wrath of his aunt and mother) I just wanted to cry for him. When nobody would listen to him, on the hand, he had a quiet resolve that I admired. He knew he might die that weekend. He would simply do his best to lead people to the murderer (even from the grave.)
The Verdict: Classic children's murder mystery, and a great way to start 100 Mysteries4kids!
By series, he meant a mystery series for kids. He said that he and my son should be the main characters, and, for one reason or other, it would be their job to solve murders.
Good idea, I thought. But for now, I'm up to my ears in nonfiction.
Turns out, that boy is very tenacious.
Everytime he sees me, he asks, "Have you started writing your series yet?"
"Not yet," I say. See, I like what I already write. Nonfiction is a lot of fun.
Then, the other day, he said, "Mrs. Heos, if you wrote that series, you guys could move into my neighborhood."
Ah, this is what we call motive. If I write a series, we can afford the friend's more expensive neighborhood, making it easier for him to play with my son. Well, that's kind of sweet.
So I decided to try it. Only before I can write a mystery series, I have to write a mystery, and before I can do that, I have to read 100 mysteries for kids (or mysteries4kids.blogspot.com). I don't know what it is about this formula, but it works. If you want to write something, first you have to read 100 of that thing. Unless you're a superstar genious writer, which I'm not. I'm a regular writer. (Meaning that I sometimes write brochures.)
This blog will be about the 100 mysteries for kids that I read. They will be classic or contemporary, Edgar Award winning or not, series or standalone. Mainly, they will be books written for a third-eighth grade audience. They will primarily be murder mysteries. Reason being: I love murder mysteries. In my favorite story, somebody solves a murder simply by overhearing something like "Eight miles is a long way to walk to the rain." My hero, as a kid, was Angela Lansbury. My dream husband was Columbo.
Plus, when I asked my son and his friend if the kids in my "series" should solve kid mysteries or murder mysteries, "murders" got the resounding vote.
I don't know if reading 100 mysteries for kids will make me a mystery writer. Writing a novel is daunting and having it twist and turn like mysteries do, yikes! But I love mysteries and writing, so I think it is worth a try.
Without further chit-chat, the first book I read was The View from the Cherry Tree, by Willo Davis Roberts (published in 1975.)
Rob Mallory escapes to a perch in a cherry tree whenever he is bored or tired of doing chores. (His mother is busy preparing for his sister Darcy's wedding, so there is lots to do.) Meanwhile, he tries to avoid his grumpy neighbor, Mrs. Calloway, who is angry that his cat trespasses on her lawn. One night, she goes so far as beating Rob with a broom when he chases the cat onto her porch.
The next day, Rob watches from the cherry tree as a man pushes Mrs. Calloway out the window. It is a short fall, but Mrs. Calloway is wearing binoculars around her neck(to spy on her neighbors, naturally.) She dies of strangulation. Essentially, she has been murdered.
Rob tries to tell his family, but everyone thinks he is putting them on. (Rob is a bit of a fibber.) More importantly, they have a wedding to attend to. Sorry, Robbie, no time for murders! We must marry off Darcy at all costs!
After witnessing the murder, Rob suspects the killer is after him. I don't know why he would think that. It's not like a potted plant nearly falls on his head or that he is shot at in his own backyard. Oh, wait. Both happen. But his family still thinks it's an accident. (Again, if somebody shot at my son, all holy hell would break lose. And by that, I do not mean I would call my husband to make sure he'd picked up the champaigne for the rehearsal dinner.)
As a grownup, the constant refusal of Robbie's parents to listen to him felt a little unrealistic. I mean, if my son told me he'd witnessed a murder, I might put down my dress alterations for five seconds and hear him out. However, from a kid's perspective, it makes sense. Grownups always seem preoccupied, especially when there is a big event at hand. Plus, with this wedding, everything that can go wrong does, mostly due to a cast of relatives that have never heard of RSVP-ing for a wedding (but seem nice other than that.)
Once I got past my grownup skepticism, Rob's parents' unwillingness to listen took on a nightmarish aura. They seem like good parents. The fact that they don't pick up on his impending doom hit me hard. It's that realization you get as a kid: It may seem like you're taken care of, but at any time, you can be all alone like anybody else. Not to get depressing, but we're talking murder, people.
Rob's situation comes to a head when he is chased by the murderer--an exciting scene! Obviously, in the end, his parents feel terrible that they'd ignored his pleas. (Though the wedding goes off without a hitch, so all's well that ends well, I guess.)
I loved this mystery. I liked that Rob was alone while being in the midst of family and friends gathered for the wedding. And I liked Rob, loved him actually...eventually.
Prior to the murder, I thought he was a bit of a Debbie Downer. It's a wedding, Rob, not a funeral! But after the murder, his pessimistic (realistic?) perspective on life made me feel for him so much. When one of the visiting cousins (a toddler) destroys something in Rob's room and he gets mad (which brings the wrath of his aunt and mother) I just wanted to cry for him. When nobody would listen to him, on the hand, he had a quiet resolve that I admired. He knew he might die that weekend. He would simply do his best to lead people to the murderer (even from the grave.)
The Verdict: Classic children's murder mystery, and a great way to start 100 Mysteries4kids!
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