Lily's Crossing
Chapter 11 — Teaching Companion
Patricia Reilly Giff · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Lily has told many lies before. Why does this one feel like the worst she has ever told?
The tension Lily, who wants to say “she could swim better than anyone she knew” and that “the ocean belonged to her,” is smashed and scraped along the sand while trying to reach Albert, and minutes later, on the blanket, she claims she can swim out to a ship crossing the Atlantic.
Today's focus
How being knocked down in front of Albert, and watching the sea toward Europe, leads Lily to claim more than she can do.
Two core ideas
- Lily thinks of the ocean as hers, so being flattened by a wave in front of Albert hurts her pride as much as her body.
- Albert believes Lily's plan and asks to come see the ships, so the story she made up now has someone depending on it.
The shape at a glance
The chapter opens at six o’clock on a Wednesday at the end of July. Families are leaving the beach at Rockaway, and Lily can hardly wait to have it to herself. Gram has packed her a supper: Spam on a roll with a tomato from Mrs. Colgan’s Victory garden, celery sticks and a bottle of orange juice. Lily sits as close to the water as she can at high tide, thinking about the radio story Portia Faces Life, where Walter is in a rowboat waiting for an American ship to pick him up, and about Poppy, who will be on a ship one of these days, crossing the Atlantic past Rockaway. Then she sees someone alone in the surf. It is Albert, teaching himself to swim: he throws himself down for a couple of strokes, goes under, and comes up sputtering, fighting the water instead of floating with it. A giant wave swells toward him. Lily shouts, then runs in, but she is too late and in the wrong place, and the wave smashes her down and scrapes her along the bottom. Lying on the sand, scratched and coughing, she remembers being six, when Poppy carried her back to the blanket and fed her egg salad. She has forgotten Albert until she sees his feet. He reaches out and says he thought she was such a good swimmer, and she wants to drown him herself. On the blanket, her nose and throat burning, she wants to tell him that she swims better than anyone she knows and that the ocean is hers. Instead she asks how the cat is, though she already knows: she has been spying on Albert and letting herself into the house, and he keeps the cat and the kitchen clean. Albert sits on the other end of the blanket and points to the end of the jetty. A line straight out from there would reach Europe; Lily says the word, and Albert says it after her. She offers him juice, and he shakes his head. When he calls a thin line of smoke on the horizon a ship going to Europe, she tells him it is a Coast Guard cutter on patrol, and it feels good to know more than he does. She tells him about the convoys and the ships from Brooklyn that can be seen at night, going to win the war. Albert begins, “And your father is going . . .” Thinking of the radio story, of Poppy crossing, and of Albert’s words about her swimming, Lily says she is going too: she will row out at night, swim the last bit with a rubber bag of dry clothes, and take a ship to her father. Albert leans forward and asks if she could do that. Of course, she says, and for a moment it almost seems possible to her. Then he asks her to take him out to see the ships, tonight. She says all right, not quite looking at him. He says he will go and feed his cat, asks her to come to his porch at eleven, and leaves without waiting for an answer. Lily sits on the blanket, her heart pounding, and knows it is the worst lie she has ever told.
A way in
Before reading, ask the student about a time they wanted someone to think well of them, and something went wrong right in front of that person. Then read aloud from the start to the line where Albert says he thought she was such a good swimmer. Ask what Lily might say back. Read on to the end, and have the student listen for each thing Lily wants to say, and for each thing she actually says.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the chapter back in four parts: the beach at six o’clock, with Lily thinking of Poppy, until she sees Albert in the surf; the wave, from her run into the water to the memory of the egg salad and Albert’s words; the blanket, from the cat and the jetty to the cutter and the convoys; and the lie, from “And your father is going . . .” to the meeting set for eleven. Look for the order, and for the plan told as Lily’s story, not as something that happens.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes two or three sentences of their own about being knocked over by something: a wave, the wind, a dog, a crowd. Ask for one sentence with a single strong verb followed by two phrases that each begin with an -ing word, set off by commas, the way Giff writes “It smashed into her, dragging her down, scraping her along the sand.” Then ask for a short sentence right after it, like “She couldn’t get her breath.” Look for a comma before each -ing phrase, and for a short sentence that lands after the long one.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First list from the chapter everything Albert says once the story starts, from “You could do that?” to the porch at eleven. Then list what Lily sees and feels: the troop ship she can picture for a moment, “All right” said without quite looking at him, her pounding heart. The student argues one reason this is the worst lie and you argue another. Look for a student who uses Albert’s exact questions and weighs them against “it almost seemed possible.” Keep the talk off what happens at eleven and off Albert’s reasons for wanting to see the ships; the chapter tells neither.
Purpose Close with the last line. Lily sits alone on the blanket, her heart pounding, before eleven comes. Ask why Giff ends the chapter there, on the blanket, rather than on Albert’s porch. Leave open whether Lily goes, whether she tells Albert the truth, and why Albert wants to see the ships; the chapter tells none of them.
Easier Read aloud together from “And your father is going . . .” to the end of the chapter. Retell what Lily says she will do and what Albert asks her. Talk through the fourth discussion question, then answer the last written question aloud.
On level Talk through all four discussion questions in order, then have the student write answers to the two written questions in complete sentences, each with a reason and a line from the chapter.
Harder The words “Of course” come twice in the chapter. The narrator says it when Lily runs in for Albert: “Of course she was too late.” Lily says it when Albert asks, “You could do that?” and she answers, “Of course.” Ask the student to write a paragraph on how the two sound side by side: one about what the water did to her, one about what she claims she can do. Use only this chapter, and claim nothing about what happens at eleven.
Discussion
- The last time Lily lay coughing on the sand, she was six. Poppy carried her back to the blanket. This time she looks up and sees Albert’s skinny feet. What is different for her now?Character
What it asks It asks about the minute right after the wave. Lily runs in to reach Albert, but she is too late and in the wrong place. The wave smashes her down and scrapes her along the sand. She comes out coughing and scratched, lying on foamy sand, and remembers the last time: she was six, and Poppy caught her up in his arms, carried her back to the blanket and fed her egg salad. Then she looks up and sees “Skinny Albert feet,” and the page says “She had forgotten all about him.” She pushes herself up on her own. The student sets the two times side by side and decides what has changed. It feeds the last written question: the ocean, Poppy and Lily’s pride all arrive in these few lines, just before Albert speaks. The card says nothing about where Poppy is now, only that he is not on this beach.
One reading
No one comes for her. At six, Poppy picked her up, carried her and fed her. Now he is not here. She has to lean on her hands, push herself up and scramble to her feet alone. The memory shows her what she is missing.
Poppy had caught her up in his arms and carried her back to the blanket. He had fed her tiny squares of egg salad crunchy with celery.
She leaned on her hands to push herself up, then scrambled to her feet.
Another reading
She is not a little girl any more. At six, it was all right to be beaten by a wave and carried off. Now she is the strong swimmer who ran in to help, and someone has watched her lose. The one standing over her is the very boy she ran in to reach.
Then she was running, throwing herself into the icy coldness, slicing into the water, swimming diagonally.
She looked up to see feet. Skinny Albert feet. Bony Albert legs with black-and-blue marks and grains of sand.
Listen for
- Tells what the wave does to Lily, and what she remembers on the sand.
- Uses the memory of Poppy and the egg salad, and what she sees when she looks up.
- Names one thing that is different now, with a reason from the beach.
- Notices that she gets up on her own this time.
If stuck
- What does the wave do to Lily?
- What happened the last time she lay on the sand like that? Who was there?
- Who is there this time, and how does Lily get up? How might that feel to her?
A strong answer A strong response might say no one comes for her: at six, Poppy “caught her up in his arms” and fed her egg salad, and now she has to push herself up and scramble to her feet alone. Another might say she is too old now to be beaten by the water without shame: she ran in to help, and the one standing over her is Albert, with his skinny feet and bony legs. A thoughtful student may notice that she had “forgotten all about him,” the very boy she ran in to reach. Look for the memory and the moment she looks up both used, and for no claim about where Poppy is.
- Albert says, “I thought you were such a good swimmer.” Lily is furious. Who is she angriest at?Character
What it asks It asks about the minute after the wave. Lily ran in to reach Albert, but she was too late and in the wrong position. The wave smashed into her and scraped her along the sand, and she came out coughing and scratched. She had forgotten all about him. She pushes herself up, and “Albert reached out” and says, “I thought you were such a good swimmer.” Her first thought is that as soon as she stops coughing she is going to drown him herself. Back on the blanket she wants to say that she could swim better than anyone she knew, and that the ocean belonged to her. The student decides where the anger really points. It feeds the last written question: later Lily names these very words as one of the things in her head when she told the lie. The card does not say what Albert meant; the chapter shows only how Lily hears him.
One reading
At Albert. He said out loud the thing she could not bear to hear, and he is the boy who cannot even swim. Every angry thought she has right then is about him, down to his skinny neck.
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.
Another reading
At the ocean. Lily thinks the ocean is hers, that it waits all winter for her to come back. Then it knocks her flat and drags her along the sand, right in front of Albert. His words only say what the wave did.
It smashed into her, dragging her down, scraping her along the sand.
But she wanted to say more, that the ocean belonged to her, that all winter at home in St. Albans she thought about it moving and rolling and waiting for her to come back.
Listen for
- Tells what Albert says, and what Lily wants to do right after.
- Names who, or what, she is angriest at, with a reason from the beach.
- Uses what the wave did to her, or what she wants to say about the ocean on the blanket.
- Keeps Albert’s meaning open: the chapter shows only how Lily hears his words.
If stuck
- What does Albert say when Lily gets to her feet? What does she want to do to him?
- What did the wave do to Lily? Whose fault was that?
- Back on the blanket, what does Lily want to tell Albert about the ocean? Did the ocean treat her that way today?
A strong answer A strong response might say she is angriest at Albert: the minute he says “I thought you were such a good swimmer,” all she can think of is taking him “by his skinny neck” and throwing him back. Another might say she is angriest at the ocean: she thinks it belongs to her and waits for her all winter, and then it “smashed into her” and scraped her along the sand in front of him. A thoughtful student may say she is angry at herself: she ran in too late and was “in the wrong position,” and the words only name what she already knows. Look for a reason from the beach, and for no claim about what Albert meant.
- Albert points past the jetty and starts a sentence. Lily finishes it: “Europe.” Read that word aloud as Lily would. What made you read it that way?Tone
What it asks It asks about one word on the blanket. Albert is sitting on the other end of her blanket, dripping. He points to the end of the jetty, a gray triangular rock, and says, “If you drew a line straight out, all the way . . .” Lily finishes it: “Europe.” He nods and says it back. Before she ever saw Albert, Lily sat looking out at the water, thinking about Poppy. She pictured him on a ship one of these days, crossing the Atlantic and passing Rockaway. Right after the word, she offers Albert her juice without looking at him. The student reads the word aloud as Lily would, and tells what made them read it that way. It feeds the last written question: the lie Lily is about to tell ends with her sailing to Europe to find Poppy. The card does not say what Europe means to Albert; he never says.
One reading
Softly, as if from far away. Europe is where Poppy is going. Lily was thinking of him crossing the ocean before Albert came. A line straight out from the jetty points right at him.
Lily looked out at the water, thinking about Poppy.
He’d be on a ship one of these days, maybe even today, crossing the Atlantic, passing Rockaway.
Another reading
Fast and flat, beating him to it. Lily is still sore from the wave and will not look at him. Finishing his sentence shows him she already knows. She is not the one who needs things explained.
She knew he had followed her to the blanket, but she didn’t look up.
“Want some juice?” she asked, not looking at him.
Listen for
- Reads the word aloud, and names the way it sounds: soft, quick, proud, sad, or another way.
- Gives a reason from the chapter: what Lily was thinking before Albert came, or how she acts toward him on the blanket.
- Notices that Albert nods and says the word back.
- Keeps to Lily: the chapter does not say what Europe means to Albert.
If stuck
- What does Albert point at? What does he start to say?
- Before Lily saw Albert in the surf, what was she thinking about as she looked at the water?
- How does Lily act toward Albert on the blanket? Does she look at him?
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily says it softly, as if from far away: before Albert came she sat looking at the water “thinking about Poppy,” who would be crossing the Atlantic one of these days, so a line straight out from the jetty points right at him. Another might say she says it fast and flat, beating him to it: she still will not look at him, and finishing his sentence shows him she already knows. A thoughtful student may notice that Albert nods and says it back, the first thing the two of them agree on, a few minutes before he believes her whole story. Look for the word read aloud with a reason, and for no claim about what Europe means to Albert.
- Just before Lily tells the lie, the book jumps ahead. Later, she looks back and can’t believe she said it. How does knowing that first change the way you hear the lie?Author's choice
What it asks It asks about the writer’s order. Albert begins, “And your father is going . . .” Before Lily answers, the narration jumps forward in time: Later, when she thought about it, she “couldn’t imagine saying what she had”; the same sentence names what was in her head: the radio story Portia Faces Life, Poppy crossing the ocean almost in front of her, and Albert’s words about her swimming. Only after that do we hear her say, “I’m going too,” and the rest. The student judges what the writer gains by putting the looking-back first. It feeds the last written question: it gives Lily’s own account of where the lie came from, before we hear it. The card does not say whether Lily ever takes the lie back.
One reading
It makes us worry. We already know she will wish she had not said it, so every detail of the plan sounds like trouble. When it “sounded wonderful,” we know better than Lily does.
Later, when she thought about it, she couldn’t imagine saying what she had
Talking and talking, making up lies as she went along, and Albert, leaning forward . . .
Another reading
It makes us understand her. The writer gives Lily’s reasons before her words, so we hear the lie as something pushed out of her, not a careless trick. We are on her side even as she makes it up.
it was just that she had been thinking of Portia Faces Life, and Poppy crossing out there almost in front of her, and Albert saying, “I thought you were such a good swimmer.”
It sounded wonderful, and she could see he was listening.
Listen for
- Finds the sentence where the book jumps ahead.
- Names the three things Lily says she was thinking of.
- Says how that order changes the lie for a reader, with a reason.
- Notices that the writer lets us know before Albert does.
If stuck
- What does Albert start to say just before Lily’s story?
- Which sentence comes from later, when Lily thinks back? What three things does it name?
- If that sentence were cut, how would the story about the ship sound?
A strong answer A strong response might say the jump ahead makes us worry: we know she “couldn’t imagine saying what she had,” so the rowboat and the rubber bag sound like trouble even while the plan “sounded wonderful”. Another might say it makes us understand her: the writer hands us her reasons first, Portia Faces Life, Poppy crossing and Albert’s words, so the lie sounds pushed out of her rather than planned. A thoughtful student may notice that the reader knows it is a lie before Albert ever could. Look for the looking-back sentence found and used, and for no claim about what Lily does later.
Critical thinking
- Lily tells Albert the smoke is a Coast Guard cutter. It feels good to know more than he does. So why does she go on to tell him she will row out to a ship?
What it asks It asks about the small win just before the lie. Albert says the curl of smoke on the horizon is a ship “going to Europe.” Lily corrects him: it is a cutter, Coast Guard, on patrol, and “It felt good to let him know she knew something, knew more than he did.” She goes on to tell him about the convoys and the ships from Brooklyn that can be seen at night. Then Albert begins, “And your father is going . . .”, and the swimming story comes out of her. The student decides what the cutter could not give her that the story does. It opens the last written question without asking it: this question is about why the story comes out at all, and the last one is about why it is the worst. The card does not say Poppy is on any ship Lily sees, or why Albert asks about her father.
One reading
The cutter wins the wrong contest. What Lily lost on the beach was swimming. Albert watched the ocean beat her and said so. Knowing the names of ships does not fix that. Only a swimming story can, so her story is about rowing out and swimming the last bit.
Albert reached out. “I thought you were such a good swimmer,” he said.
I’m going to row right out, and swim the last bit.
Another reading
The talk has turned to her father. Albert’s unfinished line is not about what Lily knows. The cutter was a fact, and a fact cannot take her anywhere. The story is a wish. It carries her where she wants to go, to Poppy.
“And your father is going . . .”
“I’m going to take a ship to my father, no one will stop to take me back to Brooklyn, there’s a war on, you know . . .”
Listen for
- Tells what Lily says about the cutter and how it makes her feel.
- Uses what Albert said on the beach, or what he starts to say about her father.
- Takes a side on what the cutter could not give her, with at least one reason from the chapter.
- Answers in complete sentences, says what the other side would say, and claims nothing about Poppy being on a ship.
If stuck
- What does Albert call the smoke? What does Lily tell him it is?
- What did Albert say to Lily on the beach? What does he start to say just before her story?
- Which of those could a fact about ships answer? Which could it not?
A strong answer A strong response might argue that the cutter wins the wrong contest: Albert saw the ocean beat her and said “I thought you were such a good swimmer,” and facts about ships cannot answer that, so her story is a swimming story, “swim the last bit.” Another might argue that the talk has moved to Poppy: Albert starts, “And your father is going . . .”, and a fact cannot take her to her father, but a story can. A thoughtful student may notice that the true things she knows, the cutter, the convoys and the ships from Brooklyn, make the false story sound more real, to Albert and maybe to herself. The best answers use the cutter and something said after it, answer the other side, and keep Poppy’s ship as something Lily imagines.
- Lily has told many lies before. Why does this one feel like the worst she has ever told?
What it asks It asks the whole question of the chapter, and it takes Lily’s own verdict as its starting point. On the blanket she tells Albert she will row out at night, swim the last bit with a rubber bag of dry clothes, and take a ship to her father, “making up lies as she went along”. Albert leans forward and asks, “You could do that?” She says, “Of course.” Then, “just for a moment, it almost seemed possible”, and she can see herself climbing aboard the troop ship. Albert asks to be taken out to see the ships, and then asks again, adding “tonight”. She says “All right,” not quite looking at him. He names the time, eleven, at his porch, and walks off without waiting for an answer. She sits there, her heart pounding. The student explains what makes this lie worse than the others. If a student says only that lying is wrong, ask what is different about this one. The card does not say they go out that night, that anyone gets hurt, that she admits the lie, or why Albert wants to see the ships.
One reading
Someone believes it and is counting on it. Albert leans in, asks if she could really do it, and then asks to come along, tonight. He sets a time and a place. A lie no one believed could fade away. This one now has a meeting at eleven.
“And you can see those ships at night?” He took a breath. “Would you take me out to see them? Would you take me out tonight?”
“I am going to the house. I will feed my cat. You will come to my porch at eleven?”
Another reading
It is about Poppy, and part of her believes it. The lie is built out of the thing Lily wants most, to reach her father. For a moment she can see it happening. A lie about something you want that much is hard to let go of, even when you know you are making it up.
And then, just for a moment, it almost seemed possible.
She could see herself reaching the troop ship, climbing aboard, and sailing to Europe to find Poppy.
Listen for
- Takes a position and gives at least two reasons from the chapter.
- Uses what Albert asks after the lie, or the moment it “almost seemed possible.”
- Answers the other side: someone who picks the other reason.
- Writes in complete sentences, and claims nothing about what happens at eleven.
If stuck
- What does Lily tell Albert she is going to do?
- What does Albert ask her right after? What time does he name?
- What does Lily see for a moment after she says “Of course”? Does that make the lie easier or harder to take back?
A strong answer A strong response takes a position, gives reasons and answers the other side. A student might argue the lie is the worst because Albert believes it: he asks “You could do that?”, asks to be taken out “tonight”, and names his porch at eleven, so a boast has turned into a promise. Another might argue it is the worst because it is about Poppy: the story is made of her biggest wish, and “just for a moment, it almost seemed possible”, so it is a lie she half tells herself. A thoughtful student may join the two: Albert is counting on a plan Lily wishes were true. Look for Albert’s questions and Lily’s own hope both weighed, and for no claim about what happens at eleven.