Chapter 4 · Lily's Crossing

Copywork

She looked up as she passed slowly under the Colgans’, the Graveses’, the Temples’. Narrow slits of light from the sides of their blackout shades were reflected out onto the water, sliding up and down with the tiny waves.

Lily knelt up slowly, so slowly it was as if she were swimming underwater. She gripped the edge of the windowsill with the tips of her fingers, then raised her head just high enough to see inside, and to hear clearly.

Read both passages aloud, slowly. Which one feels riskier, and which words make it feel that way?

For the educator Two passages, four sentences, in story order. The first comes as Lily pushes the rowboat under the neighbors’ porches. Its first sentence ends on a list of three family names, each a plural possessive with the apostrophe after the s: “the Colgans’, the Graveses’, the Temples’.” The porch each name owns is left out, and the commas carry the boat past one house after another. The second sentence has a long subject, “Narrow slits of light from the sides of their blackout shades,” and ends on a phrase that keeps the light moving: “sliding up and down with the tiny waves.” The second passage comes at the Orbans’ kitchen window. Its first sentence repeats a word with a comma between, “slowly, so slowly,” and then compares the movement to something else with “as if she were swimming underwater.” The last sentence joins two actions with “then” and ends on two matching phrases, “to see inside, and to hear clearly.” Side by side, the passages hold the war’s blackout and Lily’s first look at the boy who brings the war to her canal.

Discussion

Narration Tell back Lily’s night in order, from the searchlights over her porch bed to the red quilt pulled up to her chin.

Lily thinks the Nazis could “zero right in” on Mrs. Orban’s lights. How scared is she, really? Character
Lily is about to climb up and spy when she thinks of the star she brings every year for her mother. Why does Giff put that secret here? Author's choice
Albert says he has no time to be friends, and he has to find Ruth. Which half of that sticks with Lily more? Character
Albert never calls out, but he stares at Lily and points his spoon. What is he telling her? Inference

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when an adventure turned out different from the one you pictured. What was different about the real one?

Vocabulary

accent: And what she heard was Albert saying he didn’t have time to be friends with any Lily Mollahan, saying her name in a strange, soft way, with an accent. A way of saying words that shows a person learned to speak somewhere else, which makes Albert sound different to Lily.
crouched: Lily crouched there, listening, catching bits and pieces. Bent down low with knees bent, staying small so no one notices her under the window.
gripped: She gripped the edge of the windowsill with the tips of her fingers, then raised her head just high enough to see inside, and to hear clearly. Held on tightly, the way Lily holds the windowsill so she won't slip.
churning: She pushed herself back down under the porches so quickly she could hear the water churning up in back of her. Stirred up hard and fast, like the water behind Lily's boat as she rushes home.
reflected: Narrow slits of light from the sides of their blackout shades were reflected out onto the water, sliding up and down with the tiny waves. Thrown back from a shiny surface, as the thin lines of light bounce off the canal.
spotters: She knew the spotters were looking for enemy planes that might come all the way from Germany to bomb New York. People whose job is to keep watch and report what they see, here enemy planes in the night sky.
ledge: She counted to fifty, then wiggled through the opening and hung on to the window ledge until she felt the piling with her feet. A narrow flat shelf along the bottom of a window or wall.

Critical thinking

Gram says Lily’s trouble is she doesn’t think about things long enough. What would Gram say about the way Lily sneaks out tonight?
The Orbans talk and talk, and Albert doesn’t say a word. Who is all that talk for?
Lily ends the night in bed, caught and wondering who Ruth is. Was Lily’s night trip to the Orbans’ window brave, or was it foolish?