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Lily's Crossing
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Can Margaret be a true friend to Lily if she only knows the Lily of the stories?
The tension Lily puts “the promise not to tell a lie ever again” at the top of her list and calls this oath “the very last one,” yet minutes later she starts on “Fourteen” and flatly denies that Poppy could go overseas.
Look at what Lily hides from Margaret, and why hiding it seems to make the friendship easier for her.
The chapter takes one July afternoon in 1944, on Lily’s birthday, mostly in the Dillons’ attic in Rockaway Beach. Margaret gives Lily a half-eaten Milky Way and makes her swear secrecy on aunt Celia’s life; Lily, who has promised herself to stop lying, swears on an aunt she has turned into a spy. The girls eat from a bag of candy Mrs. Dillon is saving for Margaret’s brother Eddie, a soldier. Margaret wonders whether Eddie was at D-Day, and Lily pictures the landing at Normandy but says “Nothing.” Margaret tells her real secret: the family is leaving for Willow Run, where her father will build bombers. Lily thinks Margaret is a “perfect friend” because she knows nothing about school or the lies. Margaret gives her the attic key. When Margaret says Poppy may go overseas, Lily denies it. Mrs. Dillon finds the candy, and as Lily leaves she hears, “That Mollahan girl is trouble.”
Before reading, ask the student whether there is someone who knows them from only one place, like a camp or a cousin’s house, and what that person might not know about them. Then read aloud to “That’s what made her such a perfect friend.” Stop and ask what Lily means by “perfect.” Read on to the end, and have the student listen for each thing Lily keeps to herself.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in four parts: the presents and the oath on aunt Celia; Eddie’s candy, D-Day and Lily’s memory of Eddie; the move to Willow Run and the key; and the talk about Poppy, Mrs. Dillon on the stairs and Lily’s walk home. Look for the order, and for what Lily says out loud set apart from what she only thinks.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes three or four sentences about a person they know well. Ask for one sentence that hangs small details on the person with commas, the way Giff gives Eddie “his square front teeth, a little separated,” and his red nose, and one sentence that joins two short thoughts with a semicolon. Look for details only someone who knows the person would notice.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists from the chapter: what Margaret believes about Lily (the spy aunt, the cousin in the navy) and what Lily keeps to herself (school, the lies, the shiver at Normandy, her fear about Poppy). The student argues one side and you argue the other. Weigh the key and the stolen Milky Way against the list of things Margaret does not know. Look for a student who can say what the other side would say.
Purpose Close with where Giff ends the chapter. Lily stops at the door to hear whether Margaret will say anything, and hears nothing. Ask what Lily was hoping for, and what “not very well at all” covers: the candy, Margaret leaving, Poppy, or all of it. Then ask why Giff might put the girls’ games of spies and secrets in the same attic as Eddie’s candy and the news of Normandy.
Easier Read aloud together the opening with the Milky Way and the oath, and the part from “But we were going to” to “perfect friend.” Retell what Lily hides and what she says out loud. Talk through the first, second and fourth discussion questions, then answer the last written question aloud.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions in order, then have the student write answers to the three written questions in complete sentences, each with a reason and a line from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to write the last written question as an argument: a claim, the strongest reason against it, and an answer to that reason. Then have them set Eddie, who “always knew” when Lily was telling a story, beside Margaret, who has “no idea,” and say which friendship looks stronger and why.
1. Lily swears to keep Margaret’s secrets “on my aunt Celia’s life.” But Lily made up the story that Celia is a spy. Does the promise still count?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether an oath can rest on something invented. Margaret asks Lily to swear “on your aunt Celia’s life in Berlin, Germany.” Lily remembers her list of solutions, with “the promise not to tell a lie ever again” on top, and knows the spy aunt is one of her “gigantic” lies. She tells herself, “This was the very last one,” and swears. Moments later she nearly adds to it (“She’s the bravest”) and snaps her teeth together. She has not seen her aunt “since she was about four years old.” The chapter does not say where Celia is or what she does; Lily does not know either.
Yes, it is still real. The promise is about Margaret’s secrets, and Lily means to keep them. Aunt Celia is a real person, even if the spy part is made up. Lily crosses her heart and gives her full name.
She closed her eyes and crossed her heart over her white blouse.
I, Elizabeth Mollahan, promise never to tell your secrets, on my aunt Celia’s life.
It is worth less. Lily swears on the very lie she promised to stop telling, so the oath keeps the story going. She seems to feel it, too: she swallows, and she has to tell herself this is the last time.
Lily swallowed.
This was the very last one, she told herself, no matter what.
A strong answer A strong response might say the promise still counts: it is about Margaret’s secrets, Lily means it, and she crosses her heart and gives her full name, “I, Elizabeth Mollahan.” Another might say it is worth less: Lily swears on one of her own “gigantic” lies, the kind her list says to stop, and she has to tell herself “This was the very last one.” Look for the student to keep the secrets and the spy aunt apart before deciding.
2. Lily pictures soldiers in the water at Normandy, with the Germans shooting. She shivers. Margaret asks what is wrong, and Lily says, “Nothing.” Who is she protecting with that word?Inference
What it asks It asks why Lily keeps her one real fear to herself. Margaret says, “D-Day. I wonder if he was there.” Lily thinks of Eddie, then of the newsreel: soldiers waded “almost to their waists, while the Germans kept shooting and shooting . . .” She shivers. When Margaret asks “What is it?”, Lily shakes her head: “Nothing.” The chapter does not say whether Eddie was there; it holds only Margaret’s worry. This is the moment in the attic when the real war, not the spy game, comes into the room, and Lily does not share it.
Margaret. Eddie is Margaret’s brother, and Margaret already looks worried. If Lily said what she saw in her head, Margaret might be more scared. So Lily keeps it in.
For a moment she looked worried.
D-Day. I wonder if he was there.
Herself. In the attic Lily is the girl with a spy aunt who watches the beach for spies. A girl who shivers at the war news does not fit that story. Saying “Nothing” keeps the real fear out of the game.
Spies were probably sitting there under their striped umbrellas checking on the ships that steamed away from the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Lily shook her head.
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily protects Margaret: Margaret has just “looked worried” and wondered if Eddie “was there,” and Lily’s picture of the Germans “shooting and shooting” would only make it worse. Another might say she protects herself: the girl who spies on the beach for fun does not want to be the girl who shivers. A student may say both. Look for an answer that stays with what the page shows and leaves Eddie’s fate open.
3. Lily shudders at the thought of saying “My name is Lily Mollahan, la la, what’s yours?” to someone new in Broad Channel. What would be so bad about that?Character
What it asks It asks what Lily dreads about meeting strangers. Margaret, about to leave for Willow Run, says Lily could make friends in Broad Channel. Lily pictures “walking up and down the streets, looking for friends, trying to act like Shirley Temple, the actress,” trying to smile, and saying the line about her name. She shudders. Just before, the chapter tells us what Margaret does not know: that Lily is “last-row, last-seat” at school, “with terrible marks in everything except reading.” The line Lily imagines holds only her name, with no spy aunt in it. The question lets the student see why Lily needs her stories, without turning the lesson into a lecture on lying.
It would be an act she hates. She would have to be sweet and cheerful, like Shirley Temple, and the “la la” shows how silly it sounds to her. In her stories Lily is brave and important. This act would make her feel small.
My name is Lily Mollahan, la la, what’s yours?
She shuddered, thinking about it.
It is only her name. Someone new would meet plain Lily, with nothing to stand behind, and might soon find out about the last row and the bad marks. With Margaret, Lily is already the girl with a spy aunt.
But Margaret, who lived at the other end of Queens all winter, had no idea that she was a last-row, last-seat kid in school with terrible marks in everything except reading.
That’s what made her such a perfect friend.
A strong answer A strong response might say the line is an act Lily hates: she would be “trying to smile,” playing a sweet Shirley Temple, and the “la la” shows how silly it sounds to her. Another might say the line is too plain: it holds only her name, no spy aunt, and a stranger might find out about the “last-row, last-seat” Lily that Margaret, at “the other end of Queens all winter,” never sees. Look for a reason rooted in the page, not only that she is shy.
4. “You can sneak in, come right up to the attic,” Margaret tells Lily. Lily keeps the key under her blouse. Is the attic one more secret for Lily, or the one place she won’t have to pretend?Theme
What it asks It asks what the attic will be for Lily once Margaret is gone. Margaret pulls the key, “knotted in a brown shoelace,” from under her collar and tells her, “You can sneak in, come right up to the attic, and write your next five books.” The Dillons will lock the house and board up the windows, so Lily will be coming in where nobody knows. She thinks, “This place, hers,” and pictures being there “by herself, nobody knowing,” away from Gram and from “the radio blaring war news.” She plans to “write a wonderful book, never mind the spelling, never mind Sister Eileen.” She loops the key under her blouse and calls it “the best present I’ve ever had.” The question sets the attic beside everything else Lily keeps to herself: it is one more secret, and it may also be the one place she does not need her stories.
One more secret. Lily will sneak into a locked house, and nobody will know she is there. She even hides the key under her blouse. The attic joins the list of things Lily keeps to herself.
You can sneak in, come right up to the attic, and write your next five books.
She took the key, still warm from Margaret’s neck, and looped it under her blouse.
The one place she won’t have to pretend. Up there nobody tells her to go outside, nobody checks her spelling, and no radio plays the war news. With nobody to fool, she does not need a spy aunt. She can just read and write.
She’d be here by herself, nobody knowing, without Gram telling her to stop reading and get herself outside in the fresh air, without the radio blaring war news in back of her.
She’d write a wonderful book, never mind the spelling, never mind Sister Eileen.
A strong answer A strong response might call the attic one more secret: Margaret says “You can sneak in,” and Lily loops the key “under her blouse,” so even the present is hidden. Another might call it the one place she won’t have to pretend: she will be “by herself, nobody knowing,” away from Gram and the war news, writing “never mind the spelling.” A thoughtful student may say both: Lily has to hide in order to be herself. Look for reasons from the page, and for a link to what Margaret does not know.
5. Mrs. Dillon walked for blocks to find that candy for Eddie. Now she says, “That Mollahan girl is trouble.” Is she being fair to Lily?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to judge a mother’s verdict without making her a villain. Mrs. Dillon comes up the stairs “looking as if she would burst into tears.” She “walked for blocks for that candy, one store after another,” because “There’s a war on.” She looks out the window: “My poor Eddie.” As Lily leaves, she hears, “That Mollahan girl is trouble,” and “you’re not one bit better.” The taking was Margaret’s idea, but Lily reached for the Necco wafers “Almost without thinking” and left “feeling guilty, feeling horrible.”
Not fair. The candy raid was Margaret’s plan from the start, and she kept offering more. Yet once Lily is out the door, Mrs. Dillon calls her the trouble. Lily was only a guest.
Maybe we could take one thing,
Take one more thing,
Fair enough, or at least easy to understand. Lily did eat Eddie’s candy, and she knows it was wrong. Mrs. Dillon is upset because her son is at war, and she blames her own daughter too.
Almost without thinking, Lily reached for the Necco wafers and began to rip open the paper.
And you’re not one bit better.
A strong answer A strong response might say Mrs. Dillon is unfair: the plan was Margaret’s, “Maybe we could take one thing,” and Margaret kept pressing, “Take one more thing.” Another might say she is fair, or at least understandable: Lily reached for the wafers “Almost without thinking,” and a mother who “walked for blocks” for a soldier son is hurt, not cruel, and blames her own daughter too. Look for the student to see Mrs. Dillon as a worried mother.
1. Eddie could always tell when Lily was making something up, and he never gave her away. Why would Lily like someone who could see right through her?
What it asks It asks the student to think about the friend who knows when Lily is inventing. “What Lily liked best about Eddie was that she could make him laugh. He always knew when she was telling Margaret a story; he never gave her away.” In the Bohack’s story, Lily leaves out “the going away part,” and Eddie joins in: “I think I even heard the police sirens.” Eddie is not in the attic; Lily remembers him while Margaret wonders about D-Day. Set beside Margaret, who believes the stories, Eddie is the friend who sees the real Lily and laughs.
With Eddie she does not have to be careful. He already knows, and he likes her anyway. He laughs instead of catching her out. That is a rest from keeping her stories straight.
What Lily liked best about Eddie was that she could make him laugh.
He always knew when she was telling Margaret a story; he never gave her away.
Eddie makes the story better. He plays along and adds sirens, so the tale becomes a game the two of them share. Lily likes him because he is on her side, a partner in the fun, more than because he knows the truth.
“I think I even heard the police sirens,” Eddie had said.
About four police cars.
A strong answer A strong response might say that with Eddie Lily can relax: he “always knew” when she was telling a story and “never gave her away,” so she is liked without having to be believed. Another might say Eddie is a partner in the game, adding sirens so the tale grows, and that his laugh is the reward. The best answers set Eddie beside Margaret, who has “no idea,” and say what each friendship gives Lily.
2. Lily stays sitting when Margaret wonders if Eddie was there on D-Day. She stays sitting when Margaret says she is moving away. Then Margaret says her father thinks Poppy will go overseas. Why does that make Lily jump to her feet?
What it asks It asks the student to find the cause of the one time Lily jumps up. After the oath, Lily “sank down next to her, taking one of the cats on her lap,” and she stays there. When Margaret says “D-Day. I wonder if he was there,” Lily only shivers and says “Nothing.” When Margaret tells her the family is leaving for Willow Run “Tomorrow,” Lily closes her mouth around a butterscotch and stares out the window. Then Margaret lists Lily’s riches, “your father probably going overseas any minute.” Lily begins “Fourteen,” which the book calls “another lie,” and stops. She says, “Poppy’s not going overseas. He’s not going anywhere,” and gives a reason: “He’s an engineer.” When Margaret answers, “My father said he probably would go this summer,” Lily scrambles to her feet. The chapter does not say whether Poppy will go; it is only Mr. Dillon’s guess. This is the chapter’s tension: the oath was “the very last one,” and minutes later the next story starts, and the real war reaches Lily’s own father, if only as a guess.
It is her own father. Losing Margaret for the summer is sad, and Eddie is Margaret’s brother. Poppy is Lily’s, and the thought of him going to the war is too close to keep inside. Her body moves before she can hide it, the way she hid the shiver.
Lily scrambled to her feet.
Poppy’s not going overseas. He’s not going anywhere.
It is a grown-up who said it. When Margaret says it, Lily can brush it off with a reason: Poppy is an engineer. When it comes from Margaret’s father, it sounds as if it could be true. Lily has no reason left, so she stands up and says he is wrong.
He’s an engineer.
My father said he probably would go this summer.
A strong answer A strong response might say this is Lily’s own father: she can shiver at Normandy and say “Nothing” about Margaret’s brother, and sit still when Margaret says she is leaving, but the thought of Poppy going brings her to her feet. Another might point to who said it: Lily answers Margaret with a reason, “He’s an engineer,” but “My father said” makes it a grown-up’s guess she cannot wave away, so all she has left is “Your father’s wrong.” A student may also notice that she has just stopped one lie at “Fourteen.” Look for a cause the page supports, and for Poppy’s future left open.
3. Margaret trusts Lily with all her secrets. But she believes in the spy aunt. Can Margaret be a true friend to Lily if she only knows the Lily of the stories?
What it asks It asks the whole question of the chapter. Lily thinks Margaret is “such a perfect friend” because she “didn’t know any of that”: the last row at school, the “terrible marks,” the lies “every other minute.” Margaret believes in “an aunt a spy” and a “cousin a general in the navy,” which Lily cannot even remember telling her. Yet Margaret steals a candy bar for Lily, trusts her with “all my secrets,” and gives her the key off her own neck. Lily, for her part, keeps the shiver at Normandy to herself and meets the talk of Poppy with a flat “Your father’s wrong.” The chapter never says that Margaret suspects anything.
Yes. Margaret’s friendship is real even if some facts are not. She shares her real secrets, the move to Willow Run and the key, and she gives Lily the best present Lily has ever had. She likes Lily for being fun and full of ideas, and that part is true.
Here I am ready to trust you with all my secrets
This is for you, the back door key.
Not yet. Margaret is friends with a girl who has a spy aunt and a cousin in the navy, and that girl is made up. Lily even likes her because she does not know the truth. A friend who cannot see you cannot really stand by you, as Eddie can.
Margaret didn’t know she told lies every other minute.
That’s what made her such a perfect friend.
A strong answer A strong response takes a side, gives a reason and answers the other side. A student who says yes might point to the real things Margaret shares, “all my secrets,” Willow Run, the key “still warm from Margaret’s neck,” and argue that the fun Lily brings is true even when the facts are not. A student who says no might point to Lily’s own reason Margaret is “such a perfect friend”: she does not know about school or the lies. Either way, the best answers weigh the key against the list of things Margaret does not know, and may set Eddie, who “always knew,” beside her.