Scritch Scratch

Casley is Claire’s best friend. Both girls like science, plan on winning the next science fair together, and are saving up to buy a microscope. At the beginning of the book, Casley has been spending a lot of time with her new friend, Emily, and a lot less time with Claire. Casley is an empathetic girl who realizes that Emily is going through a difficult time. She does what she can to help Emily feel included. When Claire lashes out at both of them, Casley responds with concern and contrition, not with anger. She has no intention of choosing between her two friends, and she manages the difficult task of bringing them together so that they can understand each other. She knows that Claire has been there for her during difficult times in her life, and she is prepared to return the favor when Claire is being haunted by a ghost. Casley is particularly emotionally mature for her age. She is very forgiving of Claire’s behavior, and she does not get angry easily. Her role in the book is as an example of a good friend and a figure who models the emotional regulation that Claire will develop as the book progresses. She is also a positive role model for the reader.

Emily is Casley’s new friend. She is very pretty and wears makeup and nice clothes. Initially, the novel sets Emily up as a potential antagonist, especially as she fits the stereotypical role of the pretty, popular girl and is the focus of Claire’s jealousy. The novel subverts this expectation, however, showing that Emily is open about her own vulnerabilities and will become a supportive friend to both Claire and Casley.

Claire initially assumes that Emily’s life must be perfect, and the two girls do not get along. In fact, Emily’s parents recently divorced and her mother lost her job. Emily and her mother moved to Chicago to stay with Emily’s cousin, so her entire life has been thrown into disarray. She wears makeup because it makes her feel more capable of handling the stresses and challenges of her current life, which is something she tries to share with Claire. Like Casley, Emily is an empathetic character who is quick to forgive Claire when she is unkind to her. Despite barely knowing Claire, Emily is willing to help with the haunting and even gives Claire a charm bracelet to help her feel less afraid. Toward the end of the story, it becomes clear that Emily and Sam have romantic feelings for each other.

Sam is Claire’s older brother. Similarly to Emily, the novel first presents Sam as a focus of emotional conflict for Claire but, when she lets herself get to know him better, he shows himself to be a supportive brother. Sam is the first person who Claire opens up to and his respectful response enables a turning point in the book’s narrative arc and her character development.

He is struggling with his math class, and he plays baseball several days a week. Sam and Claire go to the same middle school, so he is probably around one year older than her, though his exact age is never specified. He likes to tease his younger sister, but when things get difficult, he is actually very kind. He does not tease Claire when she admits that she believes a ghost is haunting her. Instead, he takes her fears seriously and demonstrates his willingness to help her. He is brave and supportive, and he encourages Claire to actually talk to Casley about the issues they are having, instead of pushing her away. This wisdom not only helps Claire in Uncovering the Real Story about Emily, but it also helps Claire gain two more allies in her ghost investigation. When Casley and Emily join the investigation, Sam develops a crush on Emily. Claire makes the decision not to tease Sam about his crush, since he has proven himself to be a loving and supportive brother.

Claire’s parents both run their own businesses. Claire’s mom, Julia, runs an online baking business. Her dad, David, is a writer who runs a ghost tour of Chicago. Both of them are constantly worrying about money, and they make Claire help out with the ghost tour when David’s employee is sick. They insist that Claire is the only one who can help, even though she is only 12 years old and is quite afraid of ghosts. Claire loves her mom’s cooking and baking and believes that she would be a good teacher, as she is “always looking for ‘teachable moments’” (105) to share with her family. 

Claire’s dad’s obsession with ghosts is a source of major tension between father and daughter. Claire refuses to tell her father that she has had a paranormal experience because she fully believes that he will exploit her experiences as part of his ghost tour. The lack of trust between the two of them causes several conflicts in Scritch Scratch. At the end of the book, David reveals that he knew all along that Claire was struggling, but he wanted her to come to him when she was ready. Although Claire certainly could have used her dad’s help in dealing with the ghost, the fact that he did not pry does suggest that he is not planning to use his daughter’s painful experiences to further his career. He cares more about his daughter’s happiness and safety than his ghost tour.

Warner Jameson is one of Claire’s classmates. His role in the book is to personify the incipient sexualization of adolescent relationships and to help the narrative explore potential fears and excitement around this, through the feelings of Claire toward him.

She has a crush on him, but she gets nervous every time she tries to speak to him. Claire describes him as having “brown hair that always looks a little ruffled and grayish eyes that remind [her] of Lake Michigan on a stormy day” (25). Warner is always nice to Claire when he talks to her, and although he has never teased her, she worries about what he will think if he learns that she has helped her dad with his ghost tour. Later in the story, when Claire is reassigned to the locker next to Warner’s, she learns that Warner is Emily’s cousin. He is pleased that Emily has made friends who respect that she is going through a hard time. Like many of the young people in Scritch Scratch, Warner is mature, thoughtful, and kind toward Claire. He reciprocates her feelings, and the epilogue hints at a romance blossoming between them.