MG Fantasy/Paranormal review of Scritch Scratch by Lindsay Currie

Scritch Scratch by Lindsay Currie
Format:  E-ARC
Genre:  MG Fantasy/Paranormal
Publisher:  Sourcebooks
Number of Pages: 256
Publishing: September 1st, 2020
Source:  Edelweiss +
Opening lines: "If someone had told me yesterday that I'd be spending my Saturday morning in the aisle of a stuffy bookstore searching for ghost stories, I would've told them they were nuts."

Claire is a scientist, she believes almost everything can be solved by following the science and hardcore facts.  She especially doesn't believe in ghosts, although graveyards, dark alleys, and basements do terrify her.  Claire's beliefs are sometimes at odds with her dad's business of running the local tour bus of creepy Chicago ghost haunting sites.  One night Claire is forced into helping her dad with one of his tours where she encounters a boy at the back of the bus who mysteriously disappears.  Claire can't explain what she saw, and she certainly can't explain any of the other strange occurrences that start happening to her.  Like the scritch scratch noises in her room, the number 396 that appears written on the bathroom wall and the boy who still seems to be following and frightening her.  What she has determined is that the boy wants her to find something so Claire seeks help from her older brother Sam, her friend Casley and a new girl, Emily to unravel the mystery of what the boy wants.                  

I really liked Claire, on the exterior she seems like a practical and logical thinker but she also gets scared and counts aloud as a strategy when she's in scary situations, like walking down a dark alley.  I loved how she used the scientific method as a way to help her solve the mystery of the boy's identity, setting up her experiment, analyzing the data, and drawing a conclusion.  Such fun.  I also really liked Casley.  Claire and Casley's friendship was starting to drift ever since Emily came into the picture.  She's visible hurt by their budding friendship and doesn't really know how to communicate that to Casley so she tries to avoid the situation but Casley (Cas) keeps pulling her back into the fold, which I absolutely loved.  Cas helps Claire realize that you can have more than one friend.  That she shouldn't judge Emily based on appearances.  Everyone has problems, some are not visible or maybe that they just aren't ready to share them yet.  Either way, Casley wanted Claire to give Emily a chance.  I also really liked Claire's older brother Sam.  They may fight and bicker as siblings often do, but Sam really comes through when Claire needs him the most.  The story illustrates the importance of family and sharing our fears.  People may step up and have solutions if we relay our concerns.    

I love spooky stories and Currie is very talented in writing them, giving them just the right amount of tension and scary bits.  I was also pleasantly surprised by the mystery surrounding the identity of the ghost boy that follows Claire home.  I enjoyed the setting of Chicago and the way that Currie wove a historical event like the S.S. Eastland rolling over into the Chicago River into the story.  Scritch Scratch is creepy and spooky which makes this a perfect read for Halloween.       

        **  Thank you to Edelweiss+ and Sourcebooks for the E-ARC.  **