Chapter 1 · Lily's Crossing

Copywork

She could hardly breathe in that bedroom, Lily thought, glancing around again; she could hardly walk. Things were pulled out all over the floor, waiting to be stuffed into her suitcase: books, papers with stories she had written, bathing suits, and heaps of clothes Gram had put on the bed.

“Almost finished,” Lily said, and “almost started,” under her breath. And there, with another slide of the paint scraper, the star came off the wall in one piece, drifting into her outstretched palm. It was perfect, the points still as sharp as when they were new.

Upstairs, Lily “could hardly breathe” and “could hardly walk.” At dinner, she “could hardly talk.” What is in her way each time?

For the educator Two passages, in story order, both from Lily’s bedroom. The first is two sentences. In the first sentence, “Lily thought” is set off by commas, “glancing around again” adds what she is doing, and a semicolon joins two halves that begin the same way, “She could hardly” and “she could hardly.” The second sentence uses a colon to open a list of four things, with commas between them and “and” before the last. The second passage is three sentences. The first holds two pieces of speech in quotation marks, each with its comma inside the marks: one said out loud, one “under her breath.” The second opens with “And there,” and a phrase set off by commas, and ends on “drifting into her outstretched palm.” The third adds a describing phrase after a comma. The vocabulary words “glancing” and “drifting” come from these passages, one from each. The talk prompt sets the crowded bedroom beside the dinner table, where Lily “could hardly talk.”

Discussion

Narration Tell back the chapter in order, from the star Lily peels off her bedroom wall to Gram’s last words at the table.

Lily slips the perfect star between two pages of her book. Is she hiding it, or keeping it safe? Inference
Poppy plays along with the spy story. Gram has said no “about fourteen times.” Which grown-up takes Lily more seriously? Character
Lily says she will miss the piano. Gram turns to look at her quickly, and Lily stares right back. What is Lily saying to Gram with that stare? Inference
Lily says, “I love music.” Inside, she thinks, “Music, yes,” but “not the piano.” So is what she said a fib? Character

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when someone you love believed something about you that was not quite true. Why might a person leave it that way?

Vocabulary

resist: I just couldn’t resist. To hold yourself back from something you badly want to do; Poppy could not stop himself from hiring the truck.
alert: “You have to be alert,” Poppy said. Watching closely and ready to notice anything odd; Poppy teases that Lily has to keep watching Mr. Egan.
invasion: The invasion of France by the Allies a couple of weeks ago. An army forcing its way into land held by the enemy, like the Allies landing in France on D-Day.
blaring: Gram was at the bottom of the stairs now, the six o’clock news blaring from the radio behind her. Making a loud, harsh noise that is hard to ignore, the way the war news pours out of Gram's radio.
glancing: She could hardly breathe in that bedroom, Lily thought, glancing around again; she could hardly walk. Taking a quick look, as Lily does around her messy, crowded bedroom.
drifting: And there, with another slide of the paint scraper, the star came off the wall in one piece, drifting into her outstretched palm. Floating slowly and gently, the way the paper star falls into Lily's open hand.
hired: I’ve hired a truck Paid someone to do a job or to let you use something for a while, as Poppy did to move the piano.

Critical thinking

When Lily says she loves music, Poppy answers, “Like your mother.” How do those three words change what she has just said?
Poppy is waiting for a hug. Instead, Lily cuts her beef into “a bunch of little pieces.” Why might the author make us wait before she speaks?
Poppy always stops to listen to Lily. It is “one of his nicest ways.” Why can't Lily tell Poppy how she really feels about the piano?