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Lily's Crossing
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Was Lily's night trip to the Orbans' window brave, or was it foolish?
The tension Lily creeps to the Orbans' window as the hidden watcher, but Albert looks “straight into her eyes” and points his applesauce spoon at her, and the spy is the one who gets caught.
Follow Lily from her porch bed to the lit kitchen and notice what she imagines on the way and what she actually finds.
The chapter takes one summer night during the war at Gram’s house in Rockaway, the last house on the canal, up on stilts over the water. From her porch bed Lily watches the searchlights and imagines rescuing the neighbors from bombs and paratroopers. Four houses down, the Orbans’ lights are on with the blackout curtains open, and Mr. Orban’s Model A Ford pulls up, burning the gas he swore to save for the day the war in Europe ends. Lily climbs out the porch window, lands hard on an oar in the rowboat, and pushes herself along under the porches to the Orbans’. Waiting there, she remembers Gram saying she doesn’t think about things long enough, and thinks of the star she brings every summer so her mother will be in Rockaway too, a secret no one knows. At the kitchen window she hears Mrs. Orban talk of Budapest and Mr. Orban offer applesauce to a boy named Albert, who says he has no time to be friends with Lily Mollahan: “I have to find Ruth.” Albert looks straight at her and points his spoon. Lily flees home to bed, caught, and wondering who Ruth is.
Before reading, ask the student to picture a street at night with every window covered and searchlights sweeping the sky. What might someone lying awake there imagine? Then read aloud to “It made her dizzy to think about it.” Ask what part Lily gives herself in her daydream. Read on to the end, and have the student listen for each time Lily stops to think.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in four parts: the porch bed and the daydream of bombs; the Orbans’ lights, the Model A and the drop into the boat; the ride under the porches and the secret of the stars; and the kitchen window, Albert, the spoon and the race home. Look for the order, and for what Lily imagines kept apart from what really happens.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes three or four sentences about moving quietly somewhere in the dark. Ask for one sentence that repeats a word with a comma to slow it down, the way Giff writes “slowly, so slowly,” and one that compares the movement to something else with “as if.” Look for sentences a listener has to hear slowly.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists from the chapter: what Lily risked (Gram waking, the water, her shin, being seen) and what she came home with (Albert’s face, his words about Ruth, a hot face). The student argues one side and you argue the other. Weigh her daydream of rescuing the neighbors against what she really did at the window. Look for a student who can say what the other side would say.
Purpose Close with where Giff ends the chapter: Lily in bed with the red quilt pulled up to her chin, thinking about Albert’s blue eyes and wondering who Ruth is. Ask why the chapter stops there, before Lily meets Albert in daylight. Then ask why Giff lets Albert say only one thing about himself, “I have to find Ruth,” and what that one sentence makes a reader want to know.
Easier Read aloud together the daydream on the porch bed and the part from “Lily knelt up slowly” to the end. Retell what Lily imagines and what she really finds. Talk through the first, third and fourth discussion questions, 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 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 Lily’s secret about the stars beside Albert’s “I have to find Ruth,” and say what the two of them might share, using only what this chapter shows.
1. Lily thinks the Nazis could “zero right in” on Mrs. Orban’s lights. How scared is she, really?Character
What it asks It asks whether the war frightens Lily or thrills her, on the night she goes out into it. From her porch bed she watches the searchlights and knows “the spotters were looking for enemy planes that might come all the way from Germany to bomb New York.” She pictures “diving through bombs to rescue the neighbors” and Germans “parachuting into the canal,” and “It made her dizzy to think about it.” Then she sees that Mrs. Orban “hadn’t even bothered to pull the blackout curtains,” and the Nazis “could zero right in.” She helped Mr. Orban paint the top half of his headlights black so they “couldn’t be seen from the sky.” But what she does next is reach for her shorts to “find out what was going on,” because she “wasn’t one bit sleepy yet, anyway.” The searchlights and the blackout are the war Lily imagines, not scenery, and how she feels about that war bears on whether her trip is brave or foolish.
Truly worried. Lily knows what the spotters are looking for, and she knows bombers could reach New York. She helped make Mr. Orban’s car safe from the sky. An open window of light, two seconds from her bed, is a real danger to her.
She knew the spotters were looking for enemy planes that might come all the way from Germany to bomb New York.
Mrs. Orban hadn’t even bothered to pull the blackout curtains, and the Nazis could zero right in with Lily two seconds away.
More excited than scared. In Lily’s head the war is an adventure, and she is the hero who rows like crazy and saves the neighbors. The open curtains are less a danger than a reason to go and look. She is wide awake and wants to know what is happening.
She’d have to row like crazy, zigzagging away from the bombs, away from the paratroopers.
She’d just get herself down there and find out what was going on.
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily is truly worried: she knows the spotters watch for planes that could “bomb New York,” she helped black out Mr. Orban’s headlights, and an unblocked window “two seconds away” is a real danger. Another might say she is more thrilled than afraid: in her daydream she is the rescuer, the thought makes her “dizzy,” and the open curtains send her off to “find out what was going on,” not to warn anyone. A thoughtful student may say both. Look for a reason tied to what Lily thinks and what she then does.
2. 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
What it asks It asks about where the writer puts Lily’s most private thought. Lily sits shivering in the boat under the Orbans’ porch, deciding whether to climb. She remembers Gram saying “her whole trouble was she didn’t think about things long enough,” and answers, “Of course she did.” She thinks about stories, the war and Rockaway, “And she thought about her mother.” Every year she brings a star “to paste in back of her bed so her mother would be there in Rockaway too.” No one knows, “Especially not Poppy.” In the next paragraph she ties up the boat and pulls herself onto the porch. The chapter does not say where Lily’s mother is; it gives only the star and Poppy’s “soft look, that sad look.” This keeps the night trip from reading as plain mischief.
To show what is under the adventure. Alone and cold in the dark, Lily thinks of her mother. The girl about to snoop is also a girl who misses someone. That makes the climb feel like more than mischief.
Lily sat there shivering, wishing she had brought her sweater.
And she thought about her mother.
To show a girl who keeps things hidden. Lily hides the stars from everyone, even Poppy. Now she is about to hide on a porch and listen. The secret and the spying go together: Lily is good at keeping out of sight.
That was private stuff; no one knew, not even Poppy.
Lily crouched there, listening, catching bits and pieces.
A strong answer A strong response might say the secret shows what lies under the adventure: Lily is “shivering” and alone, and the thought of her mother comes to her there, so the girl on the porch is more than a snoop. Another might say it shows a girl who is used to hiding: the stars are “private stuff,” kept even from Poppy, and a minute later she is crouched under a window, “listening.” Look for the student to name the moment and say what the secret changes about the climb.
3. Albert says he has no time to be friends, and he has to find Ruth. Which half of that sticks with Lily more?Character
What it asks It asks which of Albert’s words land hardest on Lily. Mrs. Orban says Albert “was supposed to meet her, and they were going to be friends.” Then Lily hears him say he “didn’t have time to be friends with any Lily Mollahan,” and “I have to find Ruth.” In her head she answers, “Too bad for him. She didn’t want to be friends either.” Yet she thinks he has “A nice face,” and in bed she lies “wondering who Ruth was.” The chapter never says who Ruth is or why Albert must find her. A reader who hears only the refusal may take Albert for rude; this question keeps the urgency of “I have to find Ruth” in view.
The no. Lily hears her own name turned down by a stranger, and it stings. She answers right away, in her head, that she doesn’t want to be friends either. That sounds like hurt pride.
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.
Too bad for him.
Ruth. The no is over in a moment, and Lily still thinks he has a nice face. At the end of the night, in bed, she is not thinking about being turned down. She is thinking about his eyes, and wondering who Ruth is.
A nice face, she thought, even though he didn’t want to be friends.
She lay there thinking about Albert—his blue eyes staring at her—and wondering who Ruth was.
A strong answer A strong response might say the refusal sticks: Lily hears her own name turned down and snaps back, “Too bad for him. She didn’t want to be friends either.” Another might say Ruth sticks: Lily still finds “A nice face,” and the night ends with her “wondering who Ruth was,” not with the snub. Look for evidence from both the window and the bed, and for Ruth left a mystery.
4. Albert never calls out, but he stares at Lily and points his spoon. What is he telling her?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to read a silent signal. Albert looks up, and “he was looking straight into her eyes.” He picks up his spoon, “a little applesauce dripping off the edge,” and, “still staring, pointed it at her.” He does not say a word. Mr. and Mrs. Orban turn “toward the window, trying to see what he was looking at outside,” and Lily escapes before anyone speaks. The chapter does not say what Albert meant, or that he told the Orbans anything. This is the moment the hidden watcher is the one who gets caught.
I see you. He is catching her out, the way you point at someone you have found. Lily takes it that way: back in bed, she still feels caught.
His eyes were blue, the bluest she had ever seen, and he was looking straight into her eyes.
She couldn’t believe she had been caught like that, sneaking around on the Orbans’ porch in the middle of the night.
I know you’re there, and I’m not telling. He could have shouted, and he doesn’t. The Orbans have to turn and look for themselves. A dripping spoon is a strange, almost funny way to point. It is something just between the two of them.
He picked up his spoon, a little applesauce dripping off the edge, and, still staring, pointed it at her.
Mr. and Mrs. Orban were turning toward the window, trying to see what he was looking at outside.
A strong answer A strong response might say the spoon means he has seen her: Albert looks “straight into her eyes,” and Lily herself “couldn’t believe she had been caught like that.” Another might say it means he knows and will not tell: he does not call out, the Orbans are left “trying to see what he was looking at outside,” and the dripping spoon is almost a joke between the two of them. Look for the student to read the gesture from the page and to leave open what Albert would have said.
1. 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?
What it asks It asks the student to look at the night through Gram’s eyes and test her charge against what Lily does. Gram says “her whole trouble was she didn’t think about things long enough,” and Lily answers, “Of course she did.” The night shows care: she skips the kitchen because “Gram would be awake in a flash,” she counts to fifty, ties the boat to the Orbans’ hook (“All she needed was for the boat to float away without her”), slides the oars under the seats, and rises “so slowly it was as if she were swimming underwater.” It also shows haste: the screen is “much too noisy,” she lands on an oar, she forgets her sweater, and before the climb “She thought about it for a moment.” The question separates thinking about how to do something from thinking about whether to do it, and does not let Gram’s remark stand as the last word on Lily.
She would have to say Lily thought ahead. Lily avoids the kitchen so Gram won’t wake, ties the boat so it won’t drift, and puts the oars away so she won’t get hurt again. Tonight Gram would be wrong about her.
She thought about sneaking out through the kitchen, but Gram would be awake in a flash.
One almost broken shin was enough for tonight.
She would say that is not the thinking she means. Lily thinks hard about how to sneak, but not about whether she should go. She thinks about the climb only “for a moment.” Gram means stopping before you start, and that is the part Lily skips.
She thought about it for a moment.
Gram said her whole trouble was she didn’t think about things long enough.
A strong answer A strong response might say Gram would have to admit Lily thought ahead tonight: she skips the kitchen because “Gram would be awake in a flash,” ties the boat, and stows the oars because “One almost broken shin was enough for tonight.” Another might say Gram would call that the wrong kind of thinking: Lily plans how to sneak but never asks whether to go, and she weighs the climb only “for a moment.” The best answers use details on both sides and separate thinking about how from thinking about whether.
2. The Orbans talk and talk, and Albert doesn’t say a word. Who is all that talk for?
What it asks It asks the student to listen to the Orbans’ kitchen the way Lily does, crouched under the window, before she hears her own name. Mrs. Orban is “talking a blue streak in her high voice”: “Budapest . . . so far away,” “safe and sound,” “the beach swimming.” Then she drifts into her own memories: “I remember the cobblestones, and Kalocsa’s Restaurant . . .” Mr. Orban keeps offering food, applesauce and toast with “margarine on it, though,” because the “butter’s gone,” and he grumbles about the can opener. And “Albert wasn’t talking, not a word.” The chapter does not say where Albert has come from or why he is so quiet. Lily crept out with a head full of bombs and paratroopers; what she finds at the window is two people talking to a boy who will not answer. Whose talk it is, and what it is for, bears on the last question: what the trip was worth, and whose night Lily walked into.
For Albert. The Orbans are trying to make him feel safe and at home. Mrs. Orban tells him he is “safe and sound” and talks about the beach. Mr. Orban keeps finding food to offer. When a boy will not talk, you keep talking so he is not alone with the quiet.
“Budapest . . . so far away,” Mrs. Orban was saying, “but never mind . . . safe and sound . . . the beach swimming . . .”
“How about toast with applesauce on the side?” Mr. Orban asked.
Partly for themselves. Mrs. Orban slips into her own memories, a street and a restaurant she remembers, and her voice trails off. Mr. Orban fusses about the can opener. The talk fills the quiet Albert leaves, so the Orbans do not have to sit in it.
Her voice trailed off.
Lily listened to Mr. Orban complaining that you had to be a genius to make the can opener work, while Mrs. Orban kept going on about the beach.
A strong answer A strong response might say the talk is for Albert: Mrs. Orban tells him he is “safe and sound,” brings up the beach, and Mr. Orban keeps offering “toast with applesauce on the side,” so a quiet boy is not left alone with the quiet. Another might say it is partly for the Orbans: Mrs. Orban slips into her own memory of “the cobblestones,” her “voice trailed off,” and Mr. Orban grumbles about the can opener, as if talk fills a silence they cannot fix. A thoughtful student may say both. Look for words from the kitchen, and for Albert’s past left out; the chapter does not give it.
3. 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?
What it asks It asks the whole question of the chapter. Lily goes out with a head full of rescues, “diving through bombs to rescue the neighbors.” She drops from the window, lands on an oar, and expects “a black-and-blue mark the size of a potato.” She creeps to the Orbans’ window as the hidden watcher, but Albert looks “straight into her eyes” and points his spoon, and the spy is the one who gets caught. She flees, and “She couldn’t believe she had been caught like that.” What she brings home is Albert’s face and his words, “I have to find Ruth.” Gram’s remark that Lily doesn’t think “long enough” is one view, not the verdict; Lily answers it herself. The chapter does not say who Ruth is, where Albert comes from, or that he told the Orbans.
Brave. Lily goes out alone, at night, over the water. She gets hurt and keeps going. She climbs to a window to find out what is happening on her canal, the way the spotters watch the sky. And she finds the start of a real story: a boy who must find Ruth.
For a minute she rocked back and forth holding her leg, feeling the pain shooting down her shin.
Then she pulled herself up, hanging on to the rough floorboards of the porch.
Foolish. Nothing was in danger but Lily. She could have fallen into the water, and she did hurt her leg. She spied on neighbors who are her friends, and she got caught. Her daydream was about rescuing people, but no one needed rescuing tonight.
Tomorrow she’d have a black-and-blue mark the size of a potato.
She could feel the heat in her face, and in her neck.
A strong answer A strong response takes a side, gives reasons and answers the other side. A student who says brave might point to the drop into the boat, the pain “shooting down her shin,” and the climb up “the rough floorboards,” all to find out what was happening on her own canal. A student who says foolish might point to the bruise “the size of a potato,” the “heat in her face,” and a rescue daydream with no one to rescue. The best answers weigh what Lily risked against what she found: a boy at a table who has “to find Ruth.”