The Old Willis Place is for those that like ghost stories and mystery. The book is mainly about two kids: 12-year old Diana and her 8-year old brother, Georgie, who live in a small shack on Oak Hill Manor. A new caretaker arrives with his daughter, Lissa, who’s the same age as Diana. She longs to be friends with Lissa, but can’t because it’s “against the rules.” Later in the story, Diana decides to break the rules and get to know Lissa. Her new friendship results in negative consequences. The story has a good plot structure. The story is told from one point in time and is then leaded from then on, with some occasional flashbacks and background information. The different points of view are interesting, too. The events are told in first person point of view, mainly from Diana’s perspective, but somewhere in the chapters, it switches and is told from Lissa’s perspective when she writes in her diary. “And he had a daughter. I could hardly wait to learn more about her. If only she could be my friend, if only-” (Downing 4). This quote emphasizes how Diana’s desires are similar to any normal girl. Diana doesn’t have anyone to talk to besides Georgie, but he’s only eight years old and a boy. Diana wants to be friends with Lissa because she knows she’ll have a stronger and more comfortable connection with her, just like every other girl. “What I was about to do terrified me, but I could think of no other way to show Lissa I was a girl like herself” (Downing 54). Lissa is willing to do something that she is uncomfortable with just to prove to Lissa she’s a suitable person to be friends with. People usually changed the way they look and act just to make friends when really they shouldn’t worry about what other people think. I think that’s something that everyone should be constantly reminded of.