"Lily's Crossing"

Newbery Honor Book

"Lily's Crossing"

Author: Patricia Reilly Giff

Delacorte Press, 1997

Histrical Fiction, 3-5

Summary: "Lily's Crossing" is set in the years of 1944-1945, during the ending years of World War II. Lily is a lively and loveable young girl who lives with her grandmother(Gram) and her father(Poppy) in St. Albans, New York. Each summer they take a trip to Gram's beach house, which is in the cozy little town of Rockaway. Lily greatly loves her summers spent here and so does Poppy. She looks foward to her summers at the beach all through the year and thinks quite often of the many special memories that have been created here for Lily. However, this summer will be different from any other due to the war that is changing everyone's life. Lily's good friend, Margaret, will not be there this summer because her father is moving their familly to Detroit where he will be a part of the assembling line which is creating B-24's, which Margaret's Dad calls "Liberator Bombers." Margaret's brother is also missing in action fighting in the war. When Poppy tells Lily that he has to join the army to be an engineer, who "will help put Europe back together agian," Lily's heart is so broken that she does not know how to handle the feelings of anger, hurt, sadness, and fear. Lily makes a special friend in Rockaway who encourages her, accepts her, and cares greatly for her. They comfort each other during this diffcuilt time in their lives. Lily's friend name is Albert and he is from Hungary. He is seeking safety from the war, for his mother and father were killed for prinitng a newspaper that wrote bad things about the Nazis and Hitler. He expresses great concern and worry for his younger sister, Ruth, who is in France. She had the measles and was not allowed to go on the ship to America. Lily and Albert's friendship blossoms and grows deeper all throughout the book. They were brought together by rescuing a kitten from the ocean and nursing it back to health. They sneak into movies together, sneak out on the rowboat in the middle of the night together to see the ships, have picnics together, share their intermost secrets and fears, and go swimming together. Lily refers to Albert as her best friend;"the first friend that she had ever made." As the summer ended, Lily and Albert say goodbye, with promises to never forget one another. Lily wrote about Albert many times in her journal at school. Her teacher tells her that some people never have a friend like that. In 1945, Poppy comes home from the war, telling Lily that he found Ruth! He had read all of Lily's letters that told Poppy all about Albert and Ruth. Ruth was living at a convent with horses, cows, a river, and that she was happy, but missed Albert everyday. When summer came and Lily returned to Rockaway, she knew it would never be the same without Albert. The suprise and tear-jerker of the story comes when Albert and Ruth are there, at Rockaway, and Albert is pulling his sister toward Lily saying, "It's Lily, it's my best friend, Lily."

Response: This book creates a great emotional response. I would recommend it to any teacher to read in their classroom, espically if they are teaching a unit on WWII. Not only does the book teach about what life may have been like during WWII, many lessons are taught on friendship-what a true friend truly consists of. This book touched my heart in so many ways. I felt as if I could feel what Lily and Albert were feeling at times because I felt like I know them so well! When they were crying at different times in the book, I also felt like crying! I like the way that Giff allows readers to read Lily's inner thoughts. For example, when she was telling Albert that she lied to him, that they could not really row out to the boats at sea and travel to France, she says, "lying to Albert was not like lying to anyone else. He had a way of looking at her as if everything she said was important, serious or funny, interesting to him somehow...she felt tears running down her cheeks and reached up to wipe them away."(144). This brings readers to realize how much that Lily cared for Albert, that he was very special to her. Another example is when Lily gets wiped out from the wave when she was trying to rescue Albert in the ocean, who follows her to the blanket, saying, "I thought you were such a good swimmer." Lily thinks: "As soon as she stopped coughing she was going to drown him herself. She was going to take him by his skinny neck and throw him right back."(75). Lily has a very lively spirit. She sneaks out of the house at night, wears lipstick when she is not around Gram, and allows her imaginition to take control quite often. For example, in the beginning she spies on Albert because she thinkse that he is a spy. I think that all girls could relate to Lily in some way. Lily deals with issues that all girls face during this age-lies, daydreaming, and a need for friends. Her character develops throughout the story as she shares herself with Albert. She realizes that she no longer needs to lie and she realizes what makes a true friend. The friendship that Albert and Lily create is one of sacrifice and trust. Albert trust Lily enough to tell her about his past-his family and his long journey to America. He also shares his deep sadness that he feels becuase he may never see his grandmother or sister again. Lily also shares her sadness with him. She misses her mother who died when Lily was very young and Lily is afraid that Poppy will not come back. At the end of the book, Lily rows out to the ocean in the storm to help Albert, who is trying to see the ships. When she gets to him, he was "gulping water, and she reached out, and by some miracle, her hand hooked around the top of the jacket. She held it, feeing her nails rip, but knowing she wouldn't let go, even if she was pulled out of the boat."(155) Lily was willing to risk falling into the raging ocean to save her friend Albert. Not long before this, Albert had told Lily that when he left Hungary, he thought that he would be angry and sad forever. He told Lily that because she was his friend, he was happy. Lily and Albert's friendship is one that students can learn from. A true friend is one who accepts you just as you are, is always ready to listen and encourage, and would be willing to risk life for.

Teaching Ideas: There are so many ways to incorporate this story into the classroom! First of all, students need to learn about WWII and information about Pearl Harbor as well as the countries of Allied and Axis powers in the war. Students need to understand that Hitler was the leader of Germany and that he wanted to conquer the world. Albert's parents were killed because they wrote againist Hitler and his followers, the Nazis. They were very cruel and harsh to people who did not follow their orders, even killing others who were againist them. The United States, England, France, and Russia were fighting together againist the Japanese and the Germans, who were conquering land and people with evil intentions.

Albert tells Lily of his adventure to America. He traveled from Hungary through Austria and Switzerland, across the mountains to France,where he got on a ship that brought him to America. The expanse of Albert's journey can be better understood when looking at a map.

The culture of this time is also introduced in this book and students would greatly enjoy learning about this! For example, Lily writes about the movie Fair Stood the Wind for France, which was based on novel. Lily and her friend Margaret snuk into the movies to see this about four times!
Lily also reads several novels one of them being Evangeline, The Three Musketeers, and A Tale of Two Cities. I believe that students would enjoy hearing about theses stories which were popular during this time. Students could then compare this to what is popular now. Would they enjoy reading the books that Lily was reading?

Students can also be introduced to the candy that was popular during this time. Lily and Margaret get into the candy that was going to be sent to Margaret's brother, Eddie, who is a soldier. The girls are excited as they look through the bag finding Hershey bars, Walnettos, Sugar Daddy lollipops, and Life Savers. Students may not know what Necco Wafers are(which is what Lily chose) and teachers may try to find some so that studetns can try them!

The concept of rationing is also introduced in Lily's Crossing. Students can learn why Lily's grandmother quite often talked about not having any butter due to the war. The teacher can even read a primary account about rationing in the U.S. The writer speaks of coupouns and the close rationing of gasoline, sugar, and dairy products.

This is truly a great book in which students can learn so much! Not only can students make connections with the characters but gain knowledge of an important time in history.