Chapter 15 · Lily's Crossing

Copywork

She wanted to stretch out this moment with two letters to read. It would be like sucking on a red LifeSaver until it melted into a thin little circle.

She looked at them both, Margaret’s as filthy as the first letter she had sent. But this time it was in ink that was blotted and watery as if drops had been spattered on it.

Margaret’s ink looks “as if drops had been spattered on it,” but Giff never says what made it run. Why leave that for you to guess?

For the educator Two passages, four sentences, in story order; the second paragraph follows the first on the page. Lily is up in the Dillons’ attic with the beach still empty below and “plenty of time.” The first sentence says what she wants. The second is a comparison with “like,” built on an -ing word, “sucking,” and an “until” that lets the candy shrink slowly “into a thin little circle,” so the sentence itself takes its time. The second passage turns. Its first sentence is a main clause, then a comma and “Margaret’s as filthy as the first letter she had sent,” which leaves out its own “was”; the reader fills it in. The words “as filthy as” set the new letter beside the old one. The last sentence opens on “But this time,” pairs “blotted and watery,” and ends on “as if,” a guess rather than a fact. That guess is the point of the talk: Giff never says what the drops are. A student may say Giff lets the reader feel bad news coming before Lily knows it, or that leaving it unsaid keeps us beside Lily, who sees the blots and still saves this letter for second. Either is a reading of Giff’s choice; look for one tied to the “as if.” Notice for yourself that a small sweet thing and the first sign of grief sit side by side here, the same mix the last written question weighs in church; leave that for the student to find. Claim nothing about what the drops are. The two vocabulary words blotted and spattered both stand in the second passage.

Discussion

Narration Tell back what happens, from Lily waiting on the corner for the mailman to her race home from church.

Lily wants to make her two letters last. Then she reads Poppy’s as fast as she can. What makes her hurry? Character
Margaret’s letter ends, “He never even got any of the candy.” Is that a strange way to end it, or just right? Tone
Poppy writes that Gram loves Lily “more than you know.” Where in this chapter does Gram come closest to showing it? Character
On the banner, Eddie will soon be one silver star. Lily tries “to imagine what it must feel like to be Eddie.” What does imagining give her that a star can’t? Character

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when bad news came on an ordinary summer day. What did the rest of that day feel like?

Vocabulary

blotted: But this time it was in ink that was blotted and watery Marked with smudgy spots where wet ink has spread.
spattered: as if drops had been spattered on it. Splashed here and there in small drops.
convoy: Her father out there, crossing the Atlantic, part of a convoy, maybe even on the troop ship she and Albert had seen last night. A group of ships traveling together so they can be guarded on the way.
especially: Don’t forget to finish those books, Madeline, and A Tale of Two Cities, and especially The Three Musketeers. More than the others; Poppy points to one book above the rest.
telegram: The telegram didn’t come until this morning. A short message sent fast by wire, the way families heard news of soldiers.
banner: Father Murphy had hung the banner there himself. A long piece of cloth hung up to show something everyone should see.
background: On its white background were rows of blue stars, one for each of the men from the parish who were in the service. The plain part behind the main picture, here the white cloth behind the stars.
pounding: She could feel her heart pounding at the thought of Gram reaching for that picture when they got home. Beating hard and fast, the way a heart does with fear.

Critical thinking

Lily slips out of Mass almost before the hymn is over, to get home ahead of Gram. How good a plan is that?
In church Lily prays for Eddie, but she keeps thinking about how thirsty she is and about getting caught. Does that make her prayers any less real?