The Old Willis Place

Do you believe in ghosts? You just might after reading Mary Downing Hahn's novel, "The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story" (Clarion Books 2004). Diana and her younger brother Georgie live on the grounds of the old Willis place, stuck there as child ghosts ever since "the bad thing" happened. They have seen many caretakers come and go over the years, but the newest, Mr. Morrison, moves onto the grounds with his daughter Lissa, whom Diana longs to befriend. Because of the mysterious rules forcing Diana and Georgie to remain on the grounds and keep to themselves, Diana must decide if a real friend is worth the consequences of breaking the important rule to never be seen. Also lurking on the grounds is Miss Lillian, terrifying in both life and death, and posing a serious threat after her ghost is released. The story, beautifully written through Diana's narration and Lissa's diary entries, is a spooky page-turner that will keep the reader of any age on the edge of his or her seat, but also proves to be an emotional tale of friendship and forgiveness.

Mary Downing Hahn has done a fabulous job with "The Old Willis Place: a ghost story." From the first chapter, I was intriqued to discover the secrets of the old farm.

Diana and Georgie are two children who reside at the old Willis farm. They have been there for many, many years, and there is an air of mystery about them from the beginning. A new caretaker is moving in to take care of the old farm, one of the many Diana and Georgie have seen come and go; however, this one is different. He brings his daughter, Lissa, to the old farm with him.

Diana longs to have a friend. She and Georgie watch Lissa from afar and finally Diana shares her wish with Georgie. He becomes angry and reminds her of "the rules." These rules appeared in Diana and Georgie's mind after the bad thing happened. Diana and Georgie are not allowed to be seen by anyone and cannot leave the farm.

With each turn of the page, the reason for these rules become clearer. And, with each turn of the page, Diana wants to become friends with Lissa. At last, Diana shows herself. She and Lissa become friends, but Diana has broken a rule. The events that happen afterward are indescribable. You wouldn't believe it unless you read the story yourself!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good ghost story. The characters, plot, and setting are all extremely well developed. I found myself trying to stay awake for one more page, something I had not done in a very long time. I could not put the book down, as it has a spellbinding effect. Even though this book is found in the juvenile section, I think everyone from 4th grade to old age will find something in it that they enjoy!

Diana is so tempted by the prospect of having the new caretaker's daughter, Lissa, as a friend that she's willing to break the rules that have guided the lives of her and her brother Georgie for so many years. Diana and Georgie have done everything they can to protect each other and stay together. It's interesting to see what happens when another child comes into the mix and how the story resolves itself.

Diana and Georgie are characters are not only haunted by the bad thing, they will haunt you for a long time to come. This is a beautiful look at the tragedy of human life and the importance of friendship and forgiveness in life.

I'm not usually a big fan of `ghost' stories but I read this through in one sitting. It's fantastically written, enchanting and fast-paced. I highly recommend it for middle school age and above who like a good story and who have the constitution for some scary stuff.

Amazing book. It makes you feel like you are part of the storie, you get scared, sad, and happy all at the same time. It makes you feel bad for what happen to the childern, but happy for them in the end.

Diana and her little brother Georgie live on a farm.Not in a nice warm cozy house with there parents,in a shed,in the woods,completly alone!
But they use to live in a nice warm cozy house with there parents,but then the bad thing happened!So now they survive by them selfs.
Some parts of this story are very spinechilling,other parts are sad,
and the entire story is wonderful!

Think alot of this author. got most of these books from my kids book fair at school. i have purchased almost all of them and this book is the best. this book keeps you guessing all the way to the end and it's not super scary for the younger readers either. highly recommend this one and all of her others as well. just for the record i love gruesome horror books and definitely i am not a young person and believe these books are for all ages. i even passed this one to my mom and she enjoyed it.

a spine chiller[ not much though] by Mary Downing Hahn. i always loved her books but this was the best. definitly a page turner of my choice. the suspence goes on but mostly in the middle. it would be great for a school read aloud if you do them.

The book was amazing but some parts were confusing to understand. Otherwiss the book is really good. I would really recommend this book to readers who like a little horror and scary dreams (not personally but characters
that have scary dreams.

The following review is from my 10 year old nephew:

"This book is an amazing book with lots of scary twists inside of it....it even gave me nightmares. It is the best ghost story I have ever read. The characters were very brave and went to any lengths to sustain a friendship."

The Old Willis Place is a great beginning mystery/ghost story. There are parts in the book that make you shiver and parts that make you feel like you know the charactors personaly. Mary Hahn does a fantastic job of creating the plot so that you can feel, smell, hear and see the setting as though you were in the woods right there with the kids. It is a great book to use as a read aloud. Not too scary, but just enough to keep kids (ages 9-12) interested!

This is another great example of Mary Downing Hanhs creepy and thrilling novels that keep you wondering what will happen until the very end! I highly reccomend this to any and readers over 9 years old. Great book!!

This horror book is the selected read aloud for my son's 4th grade class. The Old Willis Place contains child abuse and murder. Please read the complete plot summary of The Old Willis Place on Wikipedia before deciding if it is appropriate for your child .