I read — well, listened to — the Audible version of The Old Willis Place years ago. The very first Mary Downing Hahn book I ever read was The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall. I loved it enough to read as many of her middle-grade spooky books as I could find! Like with The Old Willis Place, I was very rarely sorry.

Naturally, I was eager to read Hahn’s latest version, a graphic novel edition illustrated by Scott Peterson, Meredith Laxton and Sienna Haralson. Miss Lillian Willis has been dead for 10 years, and her mansion is falling apart. Twelve-year-old Diana and her younger brother Georgie fear the old woman so much, they don’t even say her name. With no parents around, Diana and Georgie are free of school, chores or requirements to bathe, change their clothes or keep regular hours. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t rules: Neither can enter the Old Willis Place, wander farther afield than the gate to the 300-acre property or let themselves be seen by the new caretaker’s daughter, Lissa Morrison — as much as they’d like to. But they do spend hours upon hours silently spying on the Morrisons, daughter and father, one of the few things they have to amuse themselves.

Who set these rules? Who enforces them? And what is the “bad thing” that the children keep alluding to? And why does Miss Willis hate Diana and Georgie so much? While I don’t think the graphic novel rises to the level of the original (which was much more subtle), readers will be reluctant to put down this graphic novel even though they’ll solve the mystery long before Lissa.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley. Harper Collins Children’s Books and Clarion Books in exchange for an honest review.

Read it, loved it, now reviewing it less than two hours after receiving the eARC. I had heard of Mary Downing Hahn, and she was an author I would have steered clear of when I was a kid. I can handle some horror (zombies!), but paranormal stuff almost always freaks me the heck out. However, I seem to be able to handle it better in a graphic novel format, at least as an adult, which is odd, since you’d think seeing the illustrations of ghosts would be scarier than just reading about them. I think it’s because the ghosts remind me of Scooby Doo villains, and that removes some of the dread factor. Who knows? My mind is a fascinating place. 😁

I had to wait a while for this ARC, and I was so excited to get it that I immediately dove in. The illustrations are fantastic, and you can see the difference between Lissa and Diana & Georgie right away. When I first saw the latter two, I thought, “those kids are filthy!”, and they are. You learn why in a slow and steady manner, and Hahn weaves her tale masterfully. This is a short, quick read, and I don’t want to give anything away, so I will leave it at this: This reads exceptionally well in a graphic novel format, and it will surely spook a new generation of kids and teens. The creative team has done an excellent job in bringing this classic to life, artistically speaking.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children’s Books and Clarion Books for the advance copy. As always, all opinions are my own.

NetGalley review app

Quick fun read, with alittle paranormal on the size.
Not a huge reader of graphic novels but this one kept my attention and the art was well cultivated to fit the story being told.

A great graphic novel for children and adults. The drawings were perfect. Thank you Netgalley and Publisher.