Module 1: The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin

Summary: On a cloudy day in November, the residents of Sunset Towers gather in a gloomy mansion to hear the will of late, eccentric millionaire Sam Westing. Imagine their surprise when the will turns out to be a challenge, an invitation to solve Westing’s own murder! The heirs are paired off and provided with $10,000 and a couple of cryptic clues, which they must use to find the murderer and inherit Westing’s millions. As we uncover the secrets of Westing’s heirs, we learn that nothing is as it seems, and neither are the players of this mysterious, and possibly deadly, game.

Reference: Raskin, E. (1978). The Westing Game. New York, NY: Dutton Children's Books. 

Impressions: I love mysteries and thrillers, and I enjoyed this book, written for adolescents, as much as I have any book intended for adults. This is one of the few "classics" that I think will really stand the test of time: it's fast-paced, clever, and humorous, and the puzzle at the center of the story will keep kids engaged through to the last page. I especially love the characters of the book, and the sly way that Raskin reminds us, as we're flipping pages to learn whodunnit, how very misleading appearances can be. Each player in the game is revealed to have hidden depths, motives and motivations that belie first impressions. It's also one of the few older books with a diverse cast of characters. 

Review: "A supersharp mystery, more a puzzle than a novel, but endowed with a vivid and extensive cast. In the Christie tradition, Raskin isolates a divers group of strangers—the mysteriously hand-picked tenants of a new apartment building within sight of the old Westing Mansion—and presents them with the information that one of them is the murderer. Actually, it turns out that there is no corpse, but no one is aware of that when they are all assembled for a reading of old Westing’s fiendish will, which pairs them all off and allots each pair four one-word clues to the murderer’s identity. As the winning pair is to inherit Westing’s fortune, there is much secret conferring, private investigating, far-out scheming, and snitching and scrambling of the teasing, enigmatic clues. (For example, those of black judge Josie Jo Ford, which she takes for a racial insult, read SKIES AM SHINING BROTHER.) As a result of the pairings, alliances are made and suspended, and though there is no murderer there is a secret winner—the pigtailed youngest of the “heirs”—plus extravagant happy endings for all. As Westing had warned, all are not what they seem, and you the reader end up liking them better than you expected to. If Raskin’s crazy ingenuity has threatened to run away with her on previous occasions, here the complicated game is always perfectly meshed with character and story. Confoundingly clever, and very funny."

(1978). The Westing Game. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ellen-raskin-0/westing-game-raskin/. 

Suggested Use: This book would be a great choice for a summer reading challenge for middle-school-aged kids. It's well-written and clever, but it's also fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining, so kids won't feel like they're wasting their summer vacation reading. Afterwards, kids could be led in a discussion about how the characters are revealed to be much more complex than appearances imply. 

Module 1: You Were Loved Before You Were Born, by Eve Bunting

Summary: You Were Loved Before You Were Born describes the preparations of a family anticipating the arrival of a new baby. The story is narrated as if a parent is speaking to the child, telling the story of each family member’s contributions in anticipation of the child’s entrance to the home. The family prepares the baby’s room, makes toys, and sorts hand-me-downs as they get ready to welcome the new baby.

Reference: Bunting, E. & Barbour, K (Illustrator). (2008). You Were Loved Before You Were Born. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Impressions: The prose of this story is simple and rhythmic, which would make it a good book to read aloud to very young children. The review below indicates that this book is intended for younger grade school kids, but I actually think it'ts more appropriate for even younger children, perhaps in the three to five-year old range. I didn't really enjoy the text of this book. Even for young children, I think it wouldn't be particularly interesting; it's not funny, and there's no real story line or narrative. As I said, I could see a parent reading it to a small child in their lap to put them to sleep, but the story isn't that engaging. The illustrations, on the other hand, are beautifully done. Karen Barbour's vibrantly colored woodcuts would, I think, be visually appealing to kids of many different ages. You Were Loved Before You Were Born is, in my opinion, an excellent example of a picture book whose true value lies in the illustrations. They enhance the relatively dry story, and are works of art in themselves. 

Review: In this second collaboration between Bunting and Barbour, a mother, speaking in soothing tones, narrates an idyllic portrait of how a child is anticipated and then welcomed into the world: “The minute Daddy and I found out we were going to have you, we loved you.” Grandmother plants a rosebush in the garden “that will grow as you grow,” and grandfather brings over the rocking chair that rocked an earlier generation. An aunt paints the moon and stars on the walls of the baby’s room. Even the family pets cooperate. Barbour’s gorgeous woodcuts are alternately nostalgic and psychedelic, perfectly fitting the sweet, boundless dreams that can precede a child’s arrival. The trees are magnificent, multicolored orbs with trunks painted in unusual hues; the butterflies appear big as eagles; and the sky tint varies from hot pink to a buttery yellow. Since there are no images of the mother growing larger, the book will work equally well for adoptive and expectant families. —Abby Nolan

Nolan, A. (2008). You Were Loved Before You Were Born. Booklist 104(13), 74. 

Suggested Use: This book might be a good addition to a list of reading choices for a parent-child reading club, where parents read along with their young children. I think the value of this story book lies in the spectacular artwork, which parents and kids could enjoy together, and in the intimate nature of the text, which is written as though spoken by a mother to a child. I definitely think this book would be enjoyed more in a one-on-one reading, rather than in a group setting.