Claire Koster is the protagonist and narrator of Scritch Scratch. The novel is largely shaped by Claire’s emotional development, showing her learn to identify and process her more negative feelings and to be open to the support and mutual trust of those who care about her.

Claire is a 12-year old girl who loves science and fears ghosts and the supernatural. She is mortified by her father’s ghost tour business and wishes that he would leave her out of it. Part of Claire’s emotional arc journey in Scritch Scratch involves Overcoming Fear, especially her fear of ghosts. When a ghost follows her home, Claire struggles at first to believe that she is being haunted. Her scientific mind tells her that there is no such thing as ghosts, and her fears make the idea of being haunted particularly horrifying. When she was younger, her dad’s ghost stories “were scary enough to keep [her] up at night for hours” (43). Claire finally has to accept that she is indeed being haunted. Despite her initial reluctance to ask for help, she is finally able to overcome her fears after telling her brother and her friends what is happening to her.