text: The Secret Office
  The Secret Office
  Allie and Henry used to have the apartment to themselves after school (with check-ins from their neighbour, Olive.) They could watch TV, run the blender to make anything goes smoothies, build LEGO cities in the living room carpet-whatever they wanted. Now they can’t do any of this. Instead they silently get their snacks from the kitchen, tiptoe to their bedroom, close the door tight and do their homework.
  “I’m so tired of Mom taking up the living room,” she complains to Henry as she brushes dust off her shirt and pants. “I’m sick of crawling around and being quiet. I’m sick of Mr. Kahlil and his plans and strategies. I’m sick of the strange voices. It’s like people have moved in but they don’t eat with us or help with the chores. It’s like living with a bunch of ghosts.”
  Twins Allie and Henry live with their mom in an apartment at the June Harriet Arms. They love their home and the people who live there. Mr. Jeffs is the new building superintendent who keeps the building immaculate, Makena is the new neighbour with a dog, and Olive is a 91-year-old woman who has lived most of her life at the June Harriet Arms.
  The twins decide that Mom needs headphones. That would help to lessen the intrusive voices in the living room. Allie and Henry pool their allowances and make a few more dollars collecting and returning pop cans. When they have enough money, they go to Chance Town, the local store, to get the headphones which are to be a surprise for Mom. Mom is very appreciative and wears them right away.
  In the process of getting the pop cans, Allie falls in a ditch and gets very muddy. Mom tells Allie to go downstairs to do her laundry. When the children are downstairs, they notice that there is an unoccupied room down there. Mr. Jeffs says it used to a coal room when the apartment furnace ran on coal. Now it is dusty with coal dust and unused. The children wonder if this space could make a nice office for Mom. Again they want this to be a surprise. Mr. Jeffs helps the children by getting in touch with the landlord to see if this is possible. The landlord is okay with it but wants $50.00 a month in rent. Again the children have an idea. Mom is paying for a parking spot which they don’t use because they don’t have a car. In exchange for the landlord’s renting out the parking spot to another tenant, Mom can use the room. The children and Mr. Jeffs work hard to clean the room, and Olive, their neighbour, lets the children use an old mirror, a lamp and some plants she was going to get rid of. Mom is surprised and happy to see what the children have accomplished.
  The Secret Office is a positive story about a community that works together to accomplish something helpful. The children were able to help their mom because of the caring adults in their lives.
  Elizabeth Brown, a retired teacher-librarian, formerly worked for Winnipeg School Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba.