Book Review: The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall
by Mary Downing Hahn
Non-series

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN-10: 0-547-38560-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-38560-0
Publication Date: September, 2010
List Price: $16.00

Review: Uncle said the dead did not return. He was wrong. This ghostly adventure book is The Ghost of Crutchfield Hal written by Mary Downing Hahn.

A girl named Florence goes to her uncle's house, where she meets her cousin James and the ghost of her cousin Sophia. Florence becomes friends with James, but Sophia uses Florence to try and kill James because she blames him for her death. In an effort to stop Sophia from haunting them, Florence and James re-create Sophia's death. Then as Sophia is killed again, James and Florence wonder if she is really gone! They don't know for sure but haven't seen or heard her wandering the house. Is Sophia really gone?

For the most part the characters are interesting, especially Florence. I like how the characters are described in this book; you get a lot of details. Plus the ending of the book really puts the whole story together, at which time everything that happens finally makes sense. I like the ending because it does not leave things hanging so you never know what happens, it tells you what happens. In The Ghost of Crutchfield Hal it does not take long before you are hooked - around the end of chapter one. Also this book is very well organized, and it moves at a good pace, helping to keep the reader interested. In fact, there are some parts of the story I kept reading it over and over because it got better and better. Overall though, I say it is a good story and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Review written by Katie (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall for this review.

Have you read The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall? How would you rate it?