Safe scares for small humans

The Bottle Witch of Brimley
by Linda DeMeulemeester (illustrated by Meaghan Carter)

Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2026
$14.95 / 9781459843523 

Do Not Go Out At Night
by François Gravel and Martine Latulippe (translated by David Warriner)

Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2026
$12.95 / 9781459843028

Reviewed by Alison Acheson

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“As the week passed, everybody started shutting their curtains before the streetlights turned on. Pets were brought in and locked up before dinner. Each day more people left their porch lights burning day and night.” —The Bottle Witch of Brimley

Orca Book Publisher has a breadth of series for all ages and interests of young readers. Its Shivers series is relatively new and offers a number of titles for those who like a tingly read—or to give the gift of one.

The Bottle Witch of Brimley is the story of a neighbourhood in which all is not as it appears, beginning with the locked door in a science storeroom at Dory’s school. Inside is an old glass jar with Latin words on it.

Naturally, no one thinks to translate the Latin. Until it’s too late.

West coast author Linda DeMeulemeester’s Grim Hill series has been popular with young readers for close to two decades, and her recent title, Ephemia Rimaldi, is a lively historical read about Canadian circus life in the early 1900s. 

This latest is fun in the innocuous tradition of witch stories for middle-grade folks: missing cats and a trio of crows create the spook, along with a love of science for good questions.

Drawings by Meaghan Carter add atmosphere, too, as does the design choice of the odd utterly blackened page.

Those three crows sit a few pages in, appearing focused on the beginning of the story… and follow the reader through.

The chapters are organized with colours, and evoke the work of Dory’s sister, Cordelia, a painter. Dory’s understanding of colour, as experienced and seen through her scientific lens, is a delightful element. 

This book is well-plotted, and readers will appreciate the foreshadowing, the surprises, and the delicious clues that come together in the end, along with the story threads developing themes about classmates, friendship, and family.

* * *

Do Not Go Out At Night is now Francois Gravel’s third contribution to the Shivers series (in this case, co-authored with Martine Latulippe). 

This story was definitely more shivery for this adult reader, as it involved the abduction of a young child. The story itself is stark, and—rightfully so—left unfinished. It hovers at a line of what we’re comfortable with children aged 9-12 reading. There’s an unspoken question of what happened with the years-ago kidnapped children; in the story, that’s left to the silence of the past. 

The last lines of the book are solid, though, and they subtly impart the thought that much in life is indeed a mystery. This notion is accomplished in the guise of a compass with a purposefully meandering needle. And that particular bit of spook can turn the reader’s mind to something beyond the kidnapping and body of a young child; the closing words are timely and well done, particularly for the young reader.

What makes Do Not Go Out At Night a particularly good read is the distinctive formatting.

The story is presented as a collection of police interviews (to intro the characters, and their growing friendship), photos (to create context), and diary notations (so we can experience the young human element, altogether a much-needed thread of why we need each other in this strange and cold world). 

The exploration of legal procedure and crime-solving evokes a sense of justice. As well, the young characters who allow curiosity and compassion—and yes, fear—to guide their actions, will appeal to readers.

There’s a lot to absorb subconsciously in this story, and in the hands of a thoughtful teacher or other adult, solid discussion points abound.

The story is co-authored by two writers in Quebec—writers who, between them, have written 150 works for young readers and adults—and Penticton translator David Warriner manages the move to English from French.

For this reviewer, that’s is a delight on more than one count. Firstly, I’m terrified that AI is going to take over far too much of publishing for children—which is already seen as a lesser-than enterprise when, in reality, it’s the most critical sphere of publishing, inducting new readers into the world of curiosity and wonder. 

And translation might be the first publishing piece to be abandoned to AI, and so it’s with celebration that I note the BC labourer here. (In fact, Warriner has translated almost all of the Shivers series books.) The tone of the police interviews is very much in the character’s voice, and I trust Warriner has fully explored and kept to this tone in the work. (There’s always a necessary element of trust in a translator’s work.) 

It’s significant work to be translating French-to-English and English-to-French, and sharing the literatures of our country. Let’s continue this work and this reading. 

And maybe keep the big light on even with our flashlight-lit shivery read…\

[Editor’s note: Although Do Not Go Out At Night will be published next week, The Bottle Witch of Brimley will not be available until mid-May.]

Alison Acheson is the author of almost a dozen books for all ages, including a memoir of caregiving, Dance Me to the End: Ten Months and Ten Days with ALS (TouchWood, 2019). She writes on Substack—The Unschool for Writers—and lives on the East Side of Vancouver. [Editor’s note: Alison has reviewed recent books by Nikki Bergstresser and Kim Spencer, Catherine Little, Evelyn Sue Wong, Lorna Shultz Nicholson, Pam Withers, Becky Citra, Paul Yee, Leslie Gentile, Caroline Lavoie, Janice Lynn Mather, Li Charmaine Anne, Linda DeMeulemeester, and Hanako Masutani for BCR; Blue Hours, her 2025 novel, was reviewed by Trish Bowering.]

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The British Columbia Review

Interim Editors: Trevor Marc Hughes (nonfiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction and poetry)
Publisher: Richard Mackie

Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an on-line book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.

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