63 pages 2 hours read

Mary Downing Hahn

The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-4

Reading Check

1. What is the actual name of the house people call “the old Willis place”?

2. What three possessions of Lissa’s do Georgie and Diana use after Lissa falls asleep?

3. What name does Lissa give to Nero?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do Lissa Morrison and her father come to the old Willis place?

2. Why does Mr. Morrison not want Lissa to attend public school?

3. Why is Tedward so important to Lissa?

4. Why is Diana so crushed by Lissa’s response when she finally lets Lissa see her?

Paired Resource

Alone

  • This brief and approachable Maya Angelou poem expresses a belief that everyone needs friendship.
  • This resource relates to the theme of The Importance of Friendship.
  • What is important according to the speaker, and why? How does this message relate to the situations of the three children in the novel—Diana, Georgie, and Lissa?

CHAPTERS 5-8

Reading Check

1. What unusual animal watches Diana as she sneaks near to the trailer at night?

2. When Diana sees herself in a mirror, whom does she mistake herself for?

3.