And one of them won!” Oddly cheery recap, that.Īmerican Writers for Children Since 1960: Fiction says that the book came about in this way: “It was begun in 1976, the Bicentennial year, which prompted the use of the words of ‘America the Beautiful’ as clues. All they had to do was find the answer, but the answer to what? The Westing game was tricky and dangerous, but the heirs played on, through blizzards and burlaries and bombs bursting in the air. The not-quite-perfect heirs were paired, and each pair was given $10,000 and a set of clues (no two sets of clues were alike). They could become millionaires, depending on how they played the game. The plot description from the book reads, “Sixteen people were invited to the reading of the very strange will of the very rich Samuel W. Of course, according to Anita Silvey, “she had always hoped to win a Caldecott Medal for illustration.” Instead she got a Newbery. Not too surprising that L’Engle’s would have crossed her plate. Raskin originally intended to be a freelance commercial artist anyway, and she did about a thousand book jackets in her day. ![]() The answer? Ellen Raskin illustrated the original cover for Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time then later would go on to win a Newbery for The Westing Game. Couldn’t for the life of me figure it out. “What is the only Newbery winning jacket illustrated by someone who would later go on to win their own Newbery?” I was stumped. I correctly answered his question about Evaline Ness, but then he asked a question that just baffled me. I was once at a Books of Wonder Christmas party when Peter Glassman started popping some children’s literature trivia at me. Oh, Ellen, why did you die so young? – Susan Van Metre I do wish that David Lynch would make this into a movie. Raskin also managed to do the “what-happened-in-the-future” part of it right (unlike some awful epilogues of late). Turtle, while incredibly unlikeable, is loveable just the same, and the quirky characters have just the right amount of strange. It stands the test of time, and I give it to kids every year. It seems smarter and funnier, and altogether more perfect every time I reread it. It has been adapted as the 1997 feature film Get a Clue.#9 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1978) ![]() It was ranked number nine among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal in 2012. The book went on to win the Newbery Medal, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award and was an ALA Notable Book. In Raskin's Newbery Award-winning mystery The Westing Game, wealthy industrialist Sam Westing dies and, in his will, calls for his sixteen heirs to meet at his mansion where he sets out a game in which they are paired out with a set of clues and $10,000 with which they are challenged to determine who killed Westing and why. Scarcely seen inscribed, let alone with a self-caricature and such an intimate association. Susan Mandel Glazer was the author’s closest friend and an internationally recognized literary advocate and taught at Rider University for an impressive 45 years. ![]() She has also added a footnote at the bottom of the page which reads, “Note: This book is one of the first off the press – the dedication may be belated, but it is a good one. Thank you, thank you, love and kisses, Ellen Raskin.” Raskin has added a full-page caricature of herself donning a gown, tiara and “Miss Newbery” sash holding a large scepter with the gold Newbery seal as the globe. Association copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the half-title page with a drawing of a self-caricature, “O, glory, glory, glory be, will wonders never case! For Sue Glazer – my best rooter and good, good friend. Dutton & Company, Inc, 1978.įirst edition of Raskins’s Newbery Award winning novel.
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