Highly recommended to fans of Small Spaces as well as anyone wishing to learn a lot about Chicago history.

This is a terrific book and one worth reading if you get the chance. On the flip side, I may now be a little too scared to visit Chicago again. What I also loved was how the author was able to blend Chicago history into it, which gave it a very authentic feel. 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 loved is that it wasn’t a fake haunting. Scritch Scratch is a very good middle grade horror book. 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. 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). 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. It can become so much more than this one story. So beware of what you may be getting into when starting this book. 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. In Scritch Scratch, Claire’s father has a ghost bus tour where he visits potentially haunted sites. However, I never knew how many other horrific tragedies this city has faced. I’ve known about the Great Chicago Fire since I was young. There is no “Friendly Ghost” in this story, Claire is clearly being haunted. The amazing cover has the phrase “Something Terrible Followed Her Home” and indeed it did.

If you are looking for some serious middle grade spooks, then this is for you.

Scritch scratch by lindsay currie