Lily's Crossing

Chapter 21

Patricia Reilly Giff · Trailblazers 4th–6th

Teaching Companion Print Adapt for your student

Copywork

She opened her mouth to say she had changed her mind, that she’d heard that the convoys were moving out to sea farther south, but lying to Albert wasn’t like lying to anyone else.

She could see the beginning of a quiver on his line. He was about to catch something . . . something small, maybe a sea robin. But he didn’t take his eyes off her, and her mouth was so dry she could hardly speak.

Each passage has a “but” in it. After that word, where does Lily’s mind go?

For the educator Two passages, four sentences, from the boat. The first is one long sentence, and most of it is a lie Lily never tells. It opens with what she was about to say, “she had changed her mind,” then adds a second thing after a comma: “that she’d heard that the convoys were moving out to sea farther south.” Then comes “but,” and the sentence turns to the reason she stops: “lying to Albert wasn’t like lying to anyone else.” The second passage comes a few lines later, just after Lily says, “I lied.” A short sentence sets up the fish. The next uses spaced dots, “something . . . something small,” to show a guess forming in the middle of a thought. The last opens with “But” and joins two parts with “and”: what Albert does not do, and what Lily can hardly do. That is the talk. At the first “but,” Lily’s mind leaves the excuse and goes to Albert; at the second, it leaves the fish and goes to Albert’s eyes on her, and to her own dry mouth. One student may say both turns lead to Albert; another may say the first turn is Lily’s choice and the second is something she cannot help. Either is good if it points to the words after “but.” The vocabulary words convoys and quiver both stand in these passages. Claim nothing about what Albert will tell her.

Discussion

Narration Tell back Lily’s terrible day in order, from the library this morning to the fish on Albert’s line.

Lily takes a breath, and then she asks Albert who will take care of Paprika. What is she hoping he will say? Character
Just before Lily says, “We can’t go,” she jokes about pockets in Albert’s bathing suit. Why does Giff put a joke there? Author's choice
Lily’s lie to Albert was about the ship. Why does she tell him about her aunt and her father too? Character
When Albert says, “Yes, because I am afraid,” what is he saying yes to? Inference

Make a Connection Think of a time, in a story or in your own life, when someone told a hard truth and it did not fix the problem. Why did they tell it anyway?

Vocabulary

reflecting: Lily tried to remember when she had last seen it this way, yellow-green water reflecting the strange color in the sky. Showing back an image or color, the way a mirror does.
searching: Albert looked over the side of the boat, almost as if he could see the bottom, almost as if he were searching for a flounder. Looking hard and carefully for something.
convoys: She opened her mouth to say she had changed her mind, that she’d heard that the convoys were moving out to sea farther south, but lying to Albert wasn’t like lying to anyone else. Groups of ships that sail together so they can be guarded.
quiver: She could see the beginning of a quiver on his line. A small, quick shaking movement.

Critical thinking

This morning Mrs. Hailey stopped Lily’s made-up story. In the boat, Lily stops her own before she tells it. Did the morning help her stop?
Lily tells Albert she lies because she never said goodbye to her father. Is that the whole reason, or only part of it?