Naomi and the Secret Message. Gilles Tibo. Translated by Susan Ouriou. Illustrated by Louise-Andrée Laliberté. Toronto, ON: Tundra Books, 2004. 163 pp., pbk., $11.99. ISBN 0-88776-668-4. Grades 3-5 / Ages 8-10 Review by Julie Hunt. *** /4

Imagine making a hole in the plaster of your living room and having thousands of coins roll onto the floor! Now picture such treasure tucked throughout your home! This is how Naomi and the Secret Message, the sequel to Naomi and Mrs. Lumbago begins, and Naomi is overjoyed to help her elderly caregiver find the loot that her late husband stashed. What's more, Naomi finds a beautiful hand mirror behind a wall. It not only has a message encrypted on the back, but, when Naomi looks into it, she appears 50 years older. Mrs. Lumbago is delighted to see her image looking 50 years younger. While Naomi puzzles over these mysteries, she knows that thousands of dollars in coins cannot be left lying about. Naomi has all kinds of ideas about how to spend the money but instead helps Mrs. Lumbago open her first account at the credit union. Mrs. Lumbago, in turn, offers great comfort to Naomi when her visions of thieves become particularly real. Naomi and Mrs. Lumbago work well together. They continue to break holes in the walls of the apartment, roll the coins, make deposits to the bank, and buy themselves treats. It all becomes routine until further puzzling clues come their way - a box of papers with more secret writing and a fake hand grenade with a small key inside. After much deliberation, Naomi is able to crack the code. It reads:

KEY IN WAR OBJECT
OPEN SMALL BOX
BY ADDING ALL NUMBERS
AT NEAR UNION

And the numbers 2,1,1,2.

"We've been blind! Look, it's as plain as day: KEY IN WAR OBJECT, that's the key hidden in the grenade. OPEN SMALL BOX, that's the safety deposit box. The scattered numbers are the number to the safety deposit box: 2112. That means there has to be something in safety deposit box number 2112. AT NEAR UNION must mean at the nearest credit union."

We have the key and the safety deposit box number. All we have to do now is open the box to find out what's hidden inside. Yahoo!

Mrs. Lumbago scratches her head saying, "Goodness gracious, Naomi! If you're right, then you're truly a little genius." Unfortunately, this little genius has to go to bed because tomorrow morning this little genius has to get up to go to school.

     And so while one mystery is solved, another begins. When Naomi and Mrs. Lumbago open the safety deposit box, the results are puzzling. The papers inside suggest that Mrs. Lumbago is Naomi's real grandma. Of course, Naomi has many more questions and this paves the way for a third book in the series.

     Young readers will enjoy Naomi and the Secret Message, imagining what they would do if their houses were filled with coins and trying to solve the mystery as Naomi does. Mrs. Lumbago seems like a wonderful caregiver and a rich relationship is developed between the characters. The language development and ample leading make this book suitable for readers who are making the transition from beginning chapter books to longer novels. The chapters are short and numerous black and white sketches will help connect the story for these readers. Tibo creates a fast moving, suspenseful story. The conclusion, however, is not satisfying as "the treasure" in the safety deposit box leads only to more questions. Children will be intrigued with the mystery and will be anxious to read on. Therefore, I recommend buying these books as a set.

Recommended.

Julie Hunt is a teacher-librarian in West Vancouver, BC.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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