The Westing Game--Ellen Raskin

I've been meaning to read this one since I was about 8. It always seemed like this puzzle filled mystery would be right up my alley. Fifteen years later, I can tell you it definitely is.

A winner of the Newbury medal, this novel goes beyond your basic juvenile fiction. The scores of characters each play a role in solving the mystery in a manner reminiscent of a Christie work. While there's the cliche smart and rebellious tomboy (Turtle Wexler) that every young female bookworm aspires to go on adventures with, equal time is paid to the other characters many of which carry very mature themes along with them.

There's the middle-aged secretary (Sydelle Pulaski) who realizes over the course of the book that she doesn't need to marry up to improve her social status. Or the Wexlers (Grace and Jake) who save their marriage by remembering their individual passions... over too much wine. Or Sun Lin Hoo who stays in America only to support her son, that over the course of the book learns english and discovers her talents extend beyond cooking in a Chinese restaurant.

In the final graphs of Mr Westing's will (or are they?) he writes, "Death is senseless yet makes way for the living. Life, too, is senseless unless you know who you are, what you want and which way the wind blows." While true to the book, many of these words are clues to solving the final puzzle, they also drive home the book's theme: self discovery. Overall, not a bad theme for a 20-something without a job.