Book Review: 'The Ghost Prison' by Joseph Delaney

✰✰✰ Billy Calder is the new prison guard at the castle. Everyone knows the castle is haunted, but there aren't many jobs available for orphans. In fact, Billy is lucky to have found this one. After preliminary training, Billy is dismayed to be transferred to the night shift. Scary things have happened at the castle; people have died there. However, Billy doesn't have a choice. Billy has heard all the stories about the haunted cells in the castle. He also knows how to take precautions, until one night when he is the only guard on duty to make the rounds. Even though he has been warned to stay away from the Witch Well, it's up to Billy to feed the evil creature within. Whether it's nerves or something else, Billy makes a mistake that will change his life forever.

The Bottom Line: Supplemented with spooky black and white illustrations by Scott M. Fischer, this ghost story is fun for late night telling. This quick read will appeal to kids in middle school. 

Details: The Ghost Prison by Joseph Delaney. Hardcover published by Sourcebooks Fire in 2013. 112 p. ISBN: 978-1-4022-9318-4