Lily’s Crossing

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5-Historical Fiction

Bibliography: Giff, Patricia Reilly. 1997. Lily’s Crossing. New York: Delacorte Press.

ISBN-13 : 978-0440414537

Plot Summary:

Since her mother’s death Lily has been spending her summers in Rockaway with her father and grandmother who she lives with. Lily enjoys the peace and freedom that comes from the home that sits on slits above the Atlantic. Her best friend Margaret is there every summer waiting for her arrival.

But in the summer of 1944 everything changes. The war they have only seen on newsreels and read about in papers is hitting close to home. Margaret’s brother is off fighting and her family moves to Detroit to help with the war effort. Then Lily’s dad is called to help overseas. Just when Lily’s thinks she will spend her summer sad and alone, Albert comes to stay with neighbors. He is a refugee from Hungary and has a sadness of his own. The two kids form a bond that starts with the sadness and guilt of not saying goodbye to their loved ones. Their bond turns into a beautiful friendship as they face the uncertainly of the war and the longing for their family caught in the middle of it all.

Analysis:

The book is written in the point of view of Lily Mollahan, a young girl just out of 5th grade. Lily’s Crossing starts on a hot and sticky day in 1944 St Albans. The reader gets a feeling very early on that Lily is struggling. She isn’t doing well in school and can hardly wait to leave it all behind and start her traditional summer on the water. She has a friend named Margaret waiting for her. Lily’s calls her “the perfect friend” because Lily can be anyone she wants in Rockaway. Her character is young but wise. You can see she has been through a lot with the death of her mother but still is a typical kid that says words like “damn” way deep in her mind. She is also self aware. She knows she doesn’t make the best choices and wants to fix them. She makes mental notes on what to work on starting with the lies she tells.

It is fascinating the way the author puts in historical events through the eyes of a child. As an adult, you feel the pain and significance of Eddie going missing. But in the eyes of a child, it is a brother and memories and unknown. When Lily’s dad gets called away the adult reader knows what it could mean. The child reader is sad about the lost summer and the fishing Lily’s won’t be able to do.

The book goes to another level when Albert is introduced. The reality of the war is not sugar coated in his story. The reader relates to Albert as a friend to Lily who saves a cat and laughs with her while learning to swim. But his story also gives an authentic account to the horror of the war and the sacrifices people made. The friendship grows on trust and vulnerability.

My favorite part of the book are the letters Lily’s dad sends home. He gives her clues about where he is based on the settings of books he recommends. I think it would be so much fun reading this with a class and seeing which kids figure out the clues before Lily does.

Reviews:

“With wry comedy and intense feeling…Giff gets across a strong sense of what it was like on the home front during World War II…The friendship story is beautifully drawn.”
—Booklist

“Exceptional characterizations and a robust story line…this has all the ingredients that best reward readers.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Brilliantly told.”
—The New York Times Book Review

Awards:

Connections:

Discuss internal vs external conflicts. Lily and Albert struggle with both. Chart what their conflicts are and list the resolutions.

Read other books about children during WW2 such as:

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan ISBN-13 : 978-0142402245

Number The Stars by Lois Lowry ISBN-13 : 978-0547577098

The War That Saved My Life by: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley ISBN-13 : 978-0147510488

Accommodations:

It can be hard to imagine what it felt like to be at home waiting for news. Show a newsreel from 1944. Lily and Albert may have seen something like this before their movie.

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