Claire's dad runs a ghost tour company and is looking for ideas for his next book. One night, Claire is asked to help out on the tour, and that's when she first sees the ghost boy. After that, the boy haunts Claire at home and at school. Claire decides to investigate and find out why the boy chose her and how to put him to rest.

I liked the ghost story aspect of the book, but the friendship issues really made me lose focus at times. I think the friendship story line would be a nice addition for younger readers to help them not be as scared as they might be without it. I definitely know some readers I will be recommending this book to!

I love this book! The protagonist, Claire is one of those characters that you feel an instant connection with and want to join her in unraveling the mystery surrounding the "ghost boy". This page turning mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you saying, "Just one more chapter." This chilling tale is so much more than just trying to solve a mystery. The friendship issues that Claire faces are what every middle school students goes through, and Claire's journey navigating middle school is relevant to all middle school readers. My favorite line is when Claire realizes that, “Everyone needs help sometimes, even the girls who look like they don't. Even the girls who seem perfect.” In addition, the way Lindsay Currie infuses Chicago's history into her writing is incredible, and I enjoy as a reader learning more about Chicago throughout the novel. Overall, I love Scritch Scratch for being a spooky mystery that also deals with trust, empathy, friendship; as well as, facing your fears and having the courage to make a difference. "Look for the story history doesn't tell, because that might be the one that matters." I can't wait to share this gem with my students in September!

I quite enjoyed this title! I was attracted to the horror vibe it gave off in the description, and thuroughly enjoyed the mystery side if the plot. It definitely targets a middle school reader with the interpersonal dynamics in the story. I also very much appreciated that it was based on a true historical incident.

SCREEEEECH - that is the sound that comes into mind immediately when I think about this book!

I loved the way Lindsay Currie weaved friendship, mystery, history and SPOOKY! My students were obsessed with The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street (as was I), so I knew that this was going to be a must buy for my library. I was so excited to read this eARC, and it did not disappoint.

This book was intriguing, and the perfect length for younger readers who want to be at the edge of their seat from start to finish. I also love how true to heart Lindsay is when it comes to Chicago. It is so fun to read about a place that the author is clearly passionate about. Thank you for this book!

Lindsay Currie’s Scritch Scratch has left me undone! I am a grown adult woman and still I had to snuggle deeper into my covers during parts of this fantastic paranormal mystery. This unputdownable book is by far one of my favorite books EVER! Lindsay’s protagonist, Claire, is just your normal middle school girl with a pesky older brother and trouble with her BFF. And as if that is not enough – now she must deal with being haunted. Lindsay takes us through her beloved city of Chicago and leaves the reader with an almost uncontrollable desire to take a trip to the Windy City to encounter firsthand all of the Spirits that linger there. You MUST read this book – middle grade students and adults alike. The bonds of family and friendship that are shown are a valuable lesson that we all need to learn. Read this book – I promise you will not regret it!

Thanks to
@NetGalley, I got to read an early copy of #ScritchScratch by @lindsayncurrie! I loved taking this jaunt through some spooky Chicago history with Claire! Although I’m pretty sure I keep hearing scritch scratches whenever I’m alone! Delightfully creepy!

I had a hard time believing the protagonist. Did she really have no friends? Was she really so self-absorbed that she dare not tell her ghost-loving dad about what was happening? And the scratching- it just freaked me out.

What a great MG mystery!! For readers who loved A Peculiar Incident on Shady Street, you will be enthralled by this!!!!! A spooky, historical ride through Chicago takes Claire to places she never expected—especially encounters with the supernatural! This page-turner is full of clues, history and goosebumps. Bravo, Lindsay Currie! You’ve outdone yourself!!! My copy is pre-ordered!! Can’t wait to share this with my fifth grade ELA classes!!!!

Claire’s writer Dad loves all things spooky, especially the unknown mysteries and tragedies that happened in Chicago in the early 1900’s. His first book was a success and he now runs a bus tour company that offers customers a ghostly tour of Chicago at night. When Claire is stuck helping out one evening, she gets a big more than she bargained for. Finding an extra passenger, she is shocked when he disappears. Realising that no one else saw him makes her positive that he was a ghost.
Unable to share her encounter with anyone, Claire becomes more and more frightened of activities and events that start to happen. Weird scratching sounds, flooded drawers and having to sleep in her cupboard for fear of the ghost. All she has been given by the ghost is a number, 396. She doesn’t know what it means or why she is being haunted.
With a lack of sleep and fear over the events, Claire falls out with her best friend and now feels truly alone.
It takes older brother Sam to prise out the secrets and fears and together they try to figure out the clues left behind by the ghost.
Sam also helps Claire to make up with best friend Casley, and to make a new friend. It will take the 4 of them working together as a team to solve the mystery.
Claire puts her scientific research skills to the test and pieces together an incredible story of Willie Novotny and the SS Eastland disaster. It is a forgotten piece of Chicago’s history and Claire believes the ghost is leading her to tell the tale.

This is a wonderfully written ghost story, bringing to life a sad and lost ghost boy looking for his family and for his story to be told and remembered. Claire is an excellent character, one who learns that change can be good, new friends are not the end of your relationship with your best friend and that secrets need to be shared.
At times, scary, you can actually feel haunted by the descriptions of Claire’s encounters with Willie. Spooky and perfect for late night reading!

A sure fire hit with the over 9’s!

Although I received a copy of this e-book in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own.

What can I say about this one? I should have known by the title this wasn't going to be a great bedtime read, but I did it anyway. Almost nightmare material. Ghost talk all over this book. Maybe I should have read about the book before I started it! Other then that, the friendship and family relationship stories that come out of this book are so worth it. I love that Claire is forced to investigate a ghost with her scientific methods and what she comes up with is amazing. It made me look into a few things a bit deeper myself. Amazing what our history can just gloss over...

Overall a really great book. Wouldn't recommend for kids who get scared too easily (like, I couldn't have handled it when I was the appropriate age lol) but a good book for the brave.

This book is amazing and is the perfect mix of creepy and scary with interesting history. Loved the main character:)

This one gave me chills. If you are looking for some serious middle grade spooks, then this is for you. The amazing cover has the phrase “Something Terrible Followed Her Home” and indeed it did. There is no “Friendly Ghost” in this story, Claire is clearly being haunted.

I’ve known about the Great Chicago Fire since I was young. However, I never knew how many other horrific tragedies this city has faced. In Scritch Scratch, Claire’s father has a ghost bus tour where he visits potentially haunted sites. Silly me was curious to know more about all the places they visited on the tour and as a result I spent way too much time on the Internet reading about these tragedies. So beware of what you may be getting into when starting this book. It can become so much more than this one story.

The main plot follows Claire who is required to help her dad out on his ghost tour one night even though she thinks it is embarrassing and not scientific. But between stops she sees a young boy among the seats that she can’t remembering counting in her numbers (as per the job her dad gave her at the beginning of the tour). Then, he is gone. But as the days progress she slowly begins to realize it has followed her home and is haunting her in ways that are fairly scary.

Scritch Scratch is a very good middle grade horror book. What I loved is that it wasn’t a fake haunting. In the context of the story, it was serious and very real and Claire finds she needs her brother and her friends (both old and new) to help figure out who is haunting her and why. What I also loved was how the author was able to blend Chicago history into it, which gave it a very authentic feel. On the flip side, I may now be a little too scared to visit Chicago again.

This is a terrific book and one worth reading if you get the chance. Highly recommended to fans of Small Spaces as well as anyone wishing to learn a lot about Chicago history. In addition, I also wish to congratulate the cover artist for a very stunning cover.

Rating: 5 stars

Thank you Sourcebooks and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for this arc by Lindsay Currie. Perfect for fans of Mary Downing Hahn and V.E. Schwab, Scritch Scratch immediately drew me in through its unique setting and family elements, specifically the main character Claire's quirky father and his ghost bus tours. With deliciously creepy haunts by a mysterious boy, this story was an absolute page turner from chapter one to the end. Add in some difficult friendship drama, a great mystery, and an overall strong ensemble including Claire's older brother, and you have a wonderfully balanced and organic middle grade novel. This is a book I will absolutely recommend to my middle grade readers.

All my students ask for scary books all the time, not just during Halloween. Lindsay Currie has provided what they want!

Do you like spooky stories? Are you interested in true stories? Lindsay Currie blends the best of both worlds into her newest novel, Scritch Scratch. Set in modern day Chicago, the main character Claire is trying to come to terms with her dad's weird job of writing ghost hunting books and leading a Haunted Chicago bus tour business. When she's forced to help out one evening she has a close encounter that will change her mind about her dad's job, the history of her city, and her own fears and friendships.
This story is such a beautiful weaving of true tragic events from Chicago's past and exciting middle grade story telling. Sure to send chills up your spine, Currie is able to include just enough spookiness to entice middle schoolers but not so much that upper elementary students will be scared away.
I highly recommend this book for students 5th grade and up who aren't afraid of the dark!

I have never been a big fan of ghost stories until I started reading books by Lindsay Currie. And just like Peculiar Incident on Shady Street, there are so many things to love about this book.
"Look for the story history does't tell, because that might be the one that matters." This is exactly what Currie has done in this story. One of the things I love most about her books is that she is a proud Chicagoan and it shows in her writing. The details and history she includes in her story are priceless. I also appreciate the fact that there is an historical element to her books. In an age where many readers do not appreciate history, she tells the story they did not know they wanted to hear.
Her characters are fun and realistic. The spookiness keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. Even if you are like me and not a fan of ghostliness, I highly recommend reading this book! You will not regret it!

I absolutely loved this book! Lindsay Curries does a fantastic job of creating a creepy ghost story, blending unknown Chicago history, and telling the tale through the eyes of a middle school girl. The characters in the story are easy to connect with and the mystery of #396 keeps the pages turning. This is a great read! Not only are you intrigued by the ghost story, but the underlying themes of family, friendship and believing in yourself make this book something special. I can’t wait to add this title to my library collection.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Loved this book even more than Shady Street. I enjoyed the mystery, as well as learning the history of Chicago. I think the connections and difficulties Claire experiences with her friend will help many middle grade readers.

I am definitely in the minority here with this book. This is the second Lindsay Currie book I've read and it will absolutely be my last.

I was not a fan of Claire, our main character, from the very beginning. Her attitude isn't very endearing, and I really didn't understand WHY she was so against her father's job as a ghost story writer and a tour guide.

We're TOLD a lot of things in this story, but we're never really shown much. Claire identifies as a scientist. We're told this over and over again, however, there was nothing in the story to really show us why she considered herself as such. Sure, there were a few mentions of her working on her science fair project, and how she should 'think like a scientist', but other than that, you would have no idea that this little girl was into science without constantly being told that she was.

Also, there was a GLARING error near the end of the book when Claire and her brother Sam were at the Chicago Museum of History researching the SS Eastland Disaster. In location 2557 (on the Kindle), the museum tour guide says to Claire (and I quote),,,

"You know, The Eastland disaster killed more passengers than the Titanic. Have you heard of the Titanic?"

Ummmm....NO. That is absolutely NOT true. The Titanic disaster killed 1, 517 people. The Eastland disaster killed 844 people. Yes, I had to google that info, but the second I read it I knew it was wrong. I knew that over 1,500 people had died on Titanic, I just didn't know the exact amount. I feel like such a large error in a Middle-Grade book is irresponsible. The Eastland disaster was awful and tragic, and I commend the author for bringing this forgotten disaster to light for young readers, but if you're going to give them information, make sure it's correct.

Overall, I just wasn't impressed with this story. It moved along so slowly and none of the characters felt real to me. I did enjoy learning about the SS Eastland, a terrible disaster that I previously knew nothing about, and the ending was sweet and satisfying, I just didn't really didn't care for Claire, and when you don't like the main character of a book, that makes getting through it very difficult.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After reluctantly assisting on her dad’s Chicago Ghost Tour bus, evidence-loving Claire starts to experience strange events that cannot seem to be explained away by science. Scratching behind her walls, a soaking wet little boy who suddenly appears and disappears, and odd instances of flooding that seem to happen only when Claire is around cause her to investigate some of Chicago’s tragic historical events.

As someone who is not a big fan of scary stories, I was initially reluctant to read it. However, the story had just enough suspense to keep me on the edge of my seat without giving me nightmares. Instead, it created a mysterious plot that left me curious about what would happen next. The story mentioned actual historical events from Chicago and inspired me to learn more, and the pace of the story made it unputdownable!

Fans of mysteries and historical fiction may enjoy this book. In the classroom, it would serve as a roundabout way to introduce the idea of our role in preserving history.