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Lily's Crossing
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Is Lily more upset that Poppy is going to war, or that she was the last to find out?
The tension In the rowboat Lily and Poppy share the calm of his “favorite place,” but two words, “Gram knows,” flip her sorrow into anger, and she shakes off his hand, rams the piling and runs.
Track how Lily’s mood changes in the rowboat, from the happiest hour of her week to the moment she pulls away from Poppy.
The chapter takes one Friday evening in Rockaway during the war. For two days Lily has hunted for Albert in a disguise, Eddie Dillon’s sailor hat, sunglasses and Victory Red lipstick, but he is always gone. Now Poppy is coming for the weekend. Lily slips off in the rowboat to meet his train, and when Gram asks about the piano, she says she practiced “This morning,” though she played the C scale twice. Gram waits at the screen door and says nothing. Poppy asks to go the long way around the trestle, his “favorite place,” and Lily rows slowly, planning a day of fishing on the Mary L., the movies and Sunday reading. When his face turns serious, she rushes to tell him about the Dillons. Then he tells her: the army needs engineers. She asks who will take care of her. He talks about the people the Nazis are killing, the ruined villages, and the builders who will put Europe back together, and he promises to find a way to let her know where he is. As they near the dock, she asks what Gram will say, and Poppy answers, “Gram knows.” Lily shakes off his hand, rams the boat into the piling, tells Gram “Mind your business” twice and runs up the road, past Albert, who stands in front of the Orbans’ house watching her cry.
Before reading, ask the student to name a favorite place and what makes it feel like home. Then read aloud to the end of Lily’s weekend plans, just before Poppy says, “I have to tell you . . .” Ask what Lily is looking forward to, and how she feels in the boat. Read on to the end, and have the student listen for each time Lily stops looking at Poppy or pulls away from him.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in four parts: the disguise and the fib at the screen door; the row to the station and the long way around the trestle; the news, Poppy’s reasons and his promise; and “Gram knows,” the piling and the run past Albert. Look for the order, and for the exact moment the student says Lily’s feeling turns.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes three or four sentences about a place they love. Ask for one sentence that ends with a few words after a comma that add a smell or a feeling, the way Giff ends with “the boat smelling of kerosene and heat,” and one sentence in which a face changes, like “his face suddenly serious.” Look for endings that add a picture without a new main verb.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists from the chapter: what hurts about the war news (“Who’s going to take care of me?”, the winter in St. Albans, not knowing where he is) and what hurts about being told last (“You told Gram first,” “Both of you keeping a secret,” Gram’s “wait until after—”). Then rank what Lily feels she is losing tonight: the winter with Poppy, knowing where he is, the calm of the row, being the first to know. The student argues one side and you argue the other. Look for a student who uses the order of the row and can say what the other side would say.
Purpose Close with how Giff begins and ends the chapter. It opens with Lily in a disguise, sure Albert “wouldn’t recognize her in a hundred years,” and it closes with Albert in front of the Orbans’ house “watching her cry.” Ask why the chapter ends with Albert seeing her, and not with Lily, Gram and Poppy at home. Leave what Albert thinks open; he only watches.
Easier Read aloud together from “Go the long way” to the end. Retell how Lily feels at the start of the row and at the end. Talk through the second 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 fib about the piano and her disguise beside her cry of “Both of you keeping a secret,” and say what it shows about Lily that a girl who hides things feels so hurt when something is hidden from her.
1. After Lily says she practiced, Gram stands at the screen door and says nothing. What is Gram holding back?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to read Gram’s silence at the screen door. Lily is slipping off in the rowboat when Gram calls about the table and then, “And what about the piano?” Lily answers “This morning,” though “she’d done the C scale twice, two minutes, and that was that.” A moment before, “Gram wasn’t fooled” by the singing, and now she is “still standing there, waiting for her to turn around and come back.” Lily raises the oars, “but Gram didn’t say anything,” and the screen door closes. Only at the end does the reader learn “Gram knows.” The question keeps Lily’s small fib in view, in the same chapter where she will feel a secret was kept from her. It does not claim Gram kept the news to hurt Lily; the chapter gives no reason beyond her unfinished “I thought you were going to wait until after—”.
A scolding about the piano. Gram knows Lily too well to believe her. She saw through the singing, and two minutes of scales is not practice. She waits for Lily to turn around, then lets it go, maybe because Poppy is coming.
Gram wasn’t fooled.
Gram was still standing there, waiting for her to turn around and come back.
The news about Poppy. Gram already knows he is going away, and Lily is rowing off to meet him. A fuss about the piano can wait. What Gram is carrying is much bigger, and Poppy is the one who is meant to tell it.
“You could set the table, Lily,” she called, “get everything ready before your father comes.”
“You told her? I thought you were going to wait until after—”
A strong answer A strong response might say Gram is holding back a scolding: she “wasn’t fooled” a moment earlier, and two minutes of the C scale is not practice, so her waiting at the door says she knows. Another might say she is holding back the news: Gram knows Poppy is leaving, she wants everything ready “before your father comes,” and the piano no longer seems worth a word. A thoughtful student may say both. Look for the fib and the end of the chapter used together, and for no claim that Gram meant to hurt Lily.
2. Poppy’s face turns serious, and Lily rushes in with news about the Dillons. How much has she guessed by then?Character
What it asks It asks the student to slow down at the moment before the news lands. The row has been the happiest hour of Lily’s week: she touches the lines around Poppy’s eyes, keeps quiet about Gram’s dinner, and plans the Mary L., the movie and Evangeline. Then Poppy says “I have to tell you . . .” and his face is “suddenly serious.” Lily tells him about the Dillons and Detroit “quickly,” down to “Top secret, Margaret says.” Poppy grins, and “Lily swallowed, watching him smile.” When he says “I have to go too,” she “didn’t look at him” and asks, “To a factory like the Dillons? When would we leave?” The chapter never says what Lily suspects. This question keeps the quiet first half of the row from being rushed past, since it is what makes the news land so hard.
She can feel something coming. The moment his face changes, she talks fast. Then she swallows, and she will not look at him. She is holding the news off for as long as she can.
“The Dillons left for Detroit,” she said quickly.
Lily swallowed, watching him smile.
Not the army. The Dillons are just news she has been saving, and it pours out. When Poppy says he has to go too, her first guess is a factory, and she asks when “we” would leave. She still thinks they will go together, and the army takes her breath away.
“To a factory like the Dillons? When would we leave?”
“The army needs engineers,” Poppy said.
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily feels bad news coming: she speaks “quickly” the moment his face turns serious, she swallows, and she will not look at him. Another might say she has not guessed the army at all: her first thought is a factory “like the Dillons,” and she asks when “we” would leave, so the word “army” hits her hard. A thoughtful student may say she feels something coming but not how bad it is. Look for evidence from the boat before and after “I have to go too.”
3. Poppy sighs just before he tells Lily what the war has wrecked. What is that sigh about?Character
What it asks It asks the student to hear Poppy as a father explaining himself to his daughter, not as a history lesson, through one small sound. After “The army needs engineers,” Lily asks, “Who’s going to take care of me?” and says “Please.” Poppy puts his hand over hers and gives his first reason: “People are being killed just for disagreeing with the Nazis, or being Jewish.” Lily answers, “I’m sick of the war.” He says it will be over someday, and she says, “It’ll take forever.” Then “Poppy sighed,” and he names “families separated, villages ruined, cathedrals bombed,” before he turns to the builders who will “help put Europe back together again.” The sigh sits between Lily pushing back and Poppy’s hardest words about the war. The chapter does not say what he feels, where he will be sent or whether he will be safe.
He is tired of trying. Each reason he gives, Lily pushes away. She is sick of the war, and she says it will take forever. He cannot make her see why he has to go, and he wants her to see it.
“I’m sick of the war,” she said.
She shook her head. “It’ll take forever.”
He is sad about leaving too. The war he talks about pulls families apart, and now it is pulling his own apart. He loves this place and he loves Lily. He is going anyway, and that is heavy for him.
There’s been nothing but destruction in this war, families separated, villages ruined, cathedrals bombed . . .
“This is my favorite place,” he said.
A strong answer A strong response might say Poppy is tired of trying: Lily answers “I’m sick of the war” and “It’ll take forever,” and he cannot make her see why he must go. Another might say the sigh is sadness about his own leaving: he names “families separated” just as he is about to leave his own, in the place he calls “my favorite place.” A thoughtful student may hear both, and may notice that he moves on to the builders who will “help put Europe back together again,” as if he needs a hopeful reason too. Look for Lily’s words just before the sigh and Poppy’s just after, and for the student hearing a father, not a history book.
4. Poppy says he loves Lily “more than Rockaway. More than anything.” Why does she answer with a question about Gram?Character
What it asks It asks about the moment just before the turn. Gram is calling across the water, “Jerry, Lily, hurry.” Poppy says, “I love you, Lily,” and “I love you more than Rockaway. More than anything,” the same Rockaway he called “my favorite place” and “home.” Lily does not say it back. She edges the boat toward the dock, sees Gram watching with her hand over her eyes, and asks, “What will Gram say?” She is sure: “She won’t like it. She’ll hate it. I know she will.” The next words are Poppy’s “Gram knows.” The question asks why Lily meets his love with Gram; it leaves what “Gram knows” does to her for the last written question.
She wants help to stop him. Loving her more than anything does not keep Poppy home, so his words fix nothing. Lily is sure Gram will hate the news. Maybe Gram can change his mind when Lily could not.
She opened her mouth, trying to think of something to say, something that would change his mind.
“What will Gram say?” Lily asked.
She holds on to the one thing she is still sure of. Nothing else tonight is certain: where he will go, or whether she will even know. But she is sure about Gram, “I know she will.” Gram is the person she counts on to feel what she feels.
“It could be anywhere. England, maybe, or Germany.”
“She won’t like it. She’ll hate it. I know she will.”
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily wants an ally: his love does not stop him leaving, she is still looking for “something that would change his mind,” and she is sure Gram will “hate it.” Another might say Gram is the one thing Lily is still sure of on a night when Poppy “could be anywhere,” so she reaches for her. A student may also notice that Lily can hardly speak, as with the “Please” she may not have said aloud. Look for the student to use how sure Lily is about Gram, since that is what “Gram knows” is about to break.
1. Lily’s first question is “Who’s going to take care of me?” What scares her most, right then?
What it asks It asks the student to stand inside Lily at the moment the army news lands. Poppy says, “The army needs engineers,” and “For a moment she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.” Her first words are “Who’s going to take care of me?” Poppy answers, “Gram, of course,” and Lily “closed her mouth over the word, didn’t want to hear it,” picturing “She and Gram all alone in St. Albans this winter, the wind rattling around the house.” Later she says, “I won’t even know where you are,” and remembers that Mrs. Colgan “can’t even guess what country.” This is the war half of the last question, seen from inside Lily. It is easy to hear her first question as a spoiled one; the card asks the student to find the fear under it. The chapter does not say whether Poppy will be safe.
Being left behind with Gram. Her mind goes straight to a cold, quiet winter in St. Albans with only Gram. She cannot even bear to hear the word. She is afraid of the house without Poppy in it.
She closed her mouth over the word, didn’t want to hear it.
She and Gram all alone in St. Albans this winter, the wind rattling around the house.
Losing Poppy himself. The news takes her breath away. Soon what she worries about is not knowing where he is at all, and she does not believe his letters will be able to tell her.
For a moment she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
I won’t even know where you are.
A strong answer A strong response might argue Lily is most afraid of being left behind: when Poppy says “Gram,” she “closed her mouth over the word,” and she pictures the two of them “all alone in St. Albans this winter.” Another might argue she is most afraid of losing Poppy himself: she “couldn’t breathe,” and she says, “I won’t even know where you are,” because the censors leave Mrs. Colgan unable to “guess what country.” The best answers choose one, give two reasons from the chapter, and say why the other fear matters less right then.
2. Gram asks Poppy if he told Lily, and Lily snaps, “Mind your business.” What does Lily mean by that?
What it asks It asks the student to read Lily’s two words to Gram, and through them the secret half of the last question. Gram stands at the edge of the ramp, “smiling a little, looking anxious at the same time.” Her first words are to Poppy, about Lily, as if Lily were not there: “You told her? I thought you were going to wait until after—” Lily says “Mind your business,” and says it again, so fast “they ran together,” and runs. In the boat she said, “You told Gram first. You knew about it. Both of you keeping a secret . . . not telling me . . .” That same afternoon Lily kept something from Gram herself, saying she practiced “This morning” after two minutes of scales. Gram’s unfinished sentence suggests a plan for when Lily would be told; the chapter never finishes it, never says Gram meant to hurt her, and names Lily’s hate only in the heat of the moment.
Stay out of it. This is between Lily and her father, and Gram was let in first. Gram even talks about Lily as if she were not standing there. Now Lily shuts Gram out, the way she was shut out.
“You told her? I thought you were going to wait until after—”
“You told Gram first. You knew about it. Both of you keeping a secret . . . not telling me . . .”
Nothing exact. She is too hurt to choose her words. They pour out so fast they run together, and she does not care about anything. Gram just happens to be the one who speaks.
The words came out of her mouth so fast, they ran together.
She didn’t care, didn’t care about one thing.
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily is telling Gram to stay out of it: Gram’s “You told her? I thought you were going to wait until after—” shows she knew before Lily did, so Lily pushes her out, the way she felt pushed out by “Both of you keeping a secret.” Another might say the words mean nothing exact: they come “so fast, they ran together,” and Lily “didn’t care about one thing.” The best answers use how the words come out as well as what they say. A thoughtful student may also ask whether they are fair to a Gram who is “smiling a little, looking anxious,” from a girl who fibbed about the piano that afternoon. Look for no claim that Gram meant to hurt her.
3. By the end, Lily is in tears, running up the road on the soft tar. Is Lily more upset that Poppy is going to war, or that she was the last to find out?
What it asks It asks the whole question of the chapter. In the rowboat Lily and Poppy share the calm of his “favorite place.” When the news comes, she can hardly breathe, says “Please,” argues, and worries she “won’t even know” where he is, but she lets Poppy keep his hand over hers. Then two words, “Gram knows,” flip her sorrow into anger: “She shook his hand off her wrist,” “She hated him, hated Gram,” she bangs the boat “hard into the piling,” tells Gram “Mind your business,” and runs, past Albert, who is “watching her cry.” The chapter names her hate in the heat of the moment; it does not say she truly hates them. It does not say where Poppy will go or whether he will be safe, and it does not say what Albert thinks.
That Poppy is going to war. The news itself is what takes her breath away, and she begs and argues before Gram is ever mentioned. Losing Poppy, with no way to know where he is, is the real loss. The secret only gives her anger somewhere to land.
“Please,” she said, but she didn’t even know if she had said it aloud.
Mrs. Colgan doesn’t know where her brother is.
That she was the last to find out. She hears the army news and stays close, asking questions, letting him hold her hand. It is “Gram knows” that makes her shake him off, burn with tears and say she hates them both. The secret is what turns sorrow into fury.
She shook his hand off her wrist, feeling tears hot in her eyes, a terrible burning in her throat, feeling angry enough to burst.
She hated him, hated Gram.
A strong answer A strong response takes a side, gives reasons and answers the other side. A student who says the war might point to “couldn’t breathe,” the “Please” she may not have said aloud, and her fear of not knowing where he is, like Mrs. Colgan’s brother. A student who says being told last might point to the order: she lets him hold her hand through all the army news, and only after “Gram knows” does she shake him off and feel “angry enough to burst.” The best answers notice that the two can feed each other: the secret hurts so much because the news is so big.