Chapter Book #2


Author:  Patricia Reilly Giff
Title:  Lily's Crossing
Illustrator: N/A
Readability Score:  Grade 3 to Grade 5
Genre:  Fiction
Subgenre:  Realistic Fiction
Theme:  Friendship survives all; Honesty is always the best policy.
Primary and Secondary Characters:  Lily Mollahan, Gram, Poppy, Albert, Ruth, Margaret, Nagymamma
Awards:  Newbery Honor, Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award
Date of Publication:  1997
Publishing Company:  Yearling, Random House Children's Books
ISBN number:  0-440-41453-9

Lily's Crossing takes place in 1944 on the Atlantic coast of New York.  Lily Mollahan goes to her grandmother's summer home.  Her father, Poppy, must go overseas to help aid the American troops in France.  Lily is always getting into trouble with her Gram.  She likes to tell lies about people being Nazi spies, she sneaks into the movie theatre, and almost never does what she is told.  Lily meets a young Hungarian boy named Albert who lives with her grandmother's neighbors.  At first, Lily doesn't like Albert.  Lily becomes friends with Albert when they save a kitten that has been thrown into the ocean.  Together they take care of the kitten and slowly learn more about each other.  Meanwhile, Poppy sends letters to Lily from France.  Lily tells Albert that she is going to row out into the ocean, hop on a boat, and go to France to find her father.  Albert wants to go, too, to find his sister Ruth, who was left in Paris.  Albert doesn't know that Lily was just lying.  Albert decides he will go on his own, so he takes a rowboat out into the bay in a terrible storm.  Lily sees his boat capsize and she rescues him from the thrashing water.  Lily finally admits that she is lying and Albert admits to lying as well.  The summer ends and Lily goes back home for the winter.  Lily's father comes home safely during the winter and brings Ruth with him.  Albert and Lily reunite the next summer.  Albert introduces Lily to Ruth as his best friend.

Lily's story is a perfect example of life in America during the second World War.  She represents the anxiety, fear, sadness, mistrust, and hope that many Americans felt during this time.  I feel that this book would be appropriate for a World War II history unit.  I would assign this book to be read by the girls in my class, while I select a different book for the boys to read in a literature circle.  The girls can read the book together, under my supervision.  As they read, I will initiate grand conversations in which the group talks about their feelings about the book.  I will address questions like, "Can you relate to Lily?"  "What do you think will happen between Lily and Albert?" "Why do you think Lily lies so much?"  "Can you foreshadow the consequences of her lie to Albert?"  At some point during the reading, I think it would be beneficial to present the students with the following scenario:  Imagine your parent has gone overseas to help the war effort.  Write a letter to them.  This helps the students relate to how Lily felt with her father gone and it will encourage them to practice their writing skills.