Print at 100% scale on letter paper, with no added margins.
Lily's Crossing
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Why does Lily keep waving at the train when she knows Poppy can't see her?
The tension Last night she “acted as if she didn’t care, not one bit”; this morning she waves at the train until it is “a smudge in the distance,” knowing Poppy “couldn’t have seen her.”
Notice how Lily spends the morning hiding in an empty house, and how she leaves it.
The chapter takes one early morning in Rockaway during the war, the morning Poppy leaves on the train. At first light Lily goes barefoot to Margaret’s house, shuttered for the winter, while a radio next door talks about the soldiers in Normandy. She lets herself in with the key she wears on a shoelace, picks up Eddie’s picture, thinks of how Poppy would look in a uniform, and sets the picture back in “exactly the same spot.” From the attic window she sees the Mary L. at the dock and wishes she could see Poppy in line with the fishermen, carrying her rod too. The reader learns what happened last night: Poppy sat on her bed and told her about the train, and she said nothing and “acted as if she didn’t care.” Now she means to stay in the attic all day. She sees Albert alone on the beach, in a belt far too big for him, and ducks behind the chimney. There she finds Eddie’s candy gone and a note from Margaret, who promises she is coming back and has taped a red LifeSaver to it. Lily sucks the candy, wondering if the train has left, then jumps up and runs. Too late for the station, she races across the field to the viaduct and waves from the moment she hears the train until it is gone, though she knows Poppy could not have seen her.
Before reading, ask the student about a time they wanted to say something to someone and did not. What made it hard? Then read aloud from the start to “She had acted as if she didn’t care, not one bit.” Ask what Lily is doing in an empty house on the morning her father leaves. Read on to the end, and have the student listen for each place Lily hides, and for the moment she stops hiding.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in four parts: the walk to Margaret’s house and Eddie’s picture; the attic window, the Mary L. and the memory of last night; Albert on the beach and the note behind the chimney; the run to the viaduct and the wave. Look for the order, and for the student placing last night’s silence where Giff puts it, in the middle of the morning.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes three or four sentences about a quiet room and then a hurried moment. Ask for one sentence that names what the light falls on with “and . . . and,” the way Giff writes “across the rug, and the couch, and Eddie’s picture,” and one long sentence that keeps going until something is gone, like the train that becomes “a smudge in the distance, and then gone completely.” Look for commas placed where a reader would breathe.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First list from the chapter what the wave could be: a goodbye to Poppy, something Lily does for herself, an answer to her silence on the bed. Then ask whether a goodbye that no one sees still counts. The student argues one side and you argue the other. Look for a student who uses last night’s silence and the last sentence together and can say what the other side would say. Let the student judge whether the wave matters; do not settle it for them.
Purpose Close with how much of this chapter is about seeing and being seen: the winter shutters, the key she slips out by feel, the picture put back just so, Albert “shading his eyes with his hands,” the run where Lily does not check who saw her, and the wave Poppy “couldn’t have seen.” Ask why Giff fills a goodbye chapter with seeing. Leave open whether Poppy ever learns she came; the chapter says only that he could not have seen her.
Easier Read aloud together from “Lily leaned back against the rough chimney bricks” to the end. Retell what Lily does at the viaduct and how she feels. Talk through the third discussion question, 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 the Lily who said nothing on the bed beside the Lily on the viaduct and decide what changed between night and morning, using only what the chapter shows.
1. Lily picks up Eddie’s picture, then puts it back in “exactly the same spot.” Why is she so careful with it?Inference
What it asks It asks about one small act in the empty house. Lily lets herself in with the key on its shoelace. The living room is dark, the winter shutters tight, but “shafts of light fell across the rug, and the couch, and Eddie’s picture on the end table.” She picks up the picture, sees “his boots laced up tight, his cap pushed back over his frizzy hair,” and thinks “of Poppy, and how he would look in a uniform.” Then she sets it back “in exactly the same spot” and feels “How strange it seemed without Margaret.” The care she shows this picture sits in the same chapter as the silence she gave her own father last night. The question is about Lily, not about Eddie; here he is only a smiling picture on an end table, and the card makes no guess about what happens to him.
The picture stands in for Poppy. Holding Eddie’s picture, cap and boots and all, she thinks of her father in a uniform. Being gentle with it is a way of being gentle with him, which she could not manage last night.
She thought of Poppy, and how he would look in a uniform.
She hadn’t said a word.
She wants things to stay as they were. This is Margaret’s house, and Margaret is gone. Putting the picture back just so keeps the room the way it was, the way Poppy promised everything would be “just the same.”
How strange it seemed without Margaret, or even Mrs. Dillon sitting next to the radio listening to Portia Faces Life.
He had sat on the edge of her bed, his weight tilting the mattress down, telling her the war would be over sometime and they’d be right back there in Rockaway with everything just the same.
A strong answer A strong response might say the picture stands in for Poppy: she looks at a boy in his cap and boots and thinks “how he would look in a uniform,” so handling it gently is a care she did not show her father on the bed. Another might say she is keeping the room as it was: the house feels “strange” without Margaret, and setting the picture back “in exactly the same spot” is like Poppy’s promise of “everything just the same.” A student may also say it is simply not her house, and she wants to leave no sign she was there. Look for a reason tied to what she sees and thinks in that room, and for no guess about Eddie.
2. Lily wishes she could see Poppy in line for the Mary L. He would have “his fishing rod and hers too.” What does that wish give her that the real morning doesn’t?Character
What it asks It asks the student to stand at the attic window with Lily. The Mary L. is “still at the dock, sitting low in the water.” She thinks, “If only she’d see Poppy in line with the other fishermen,” balancing the basket and tackle box, with “his fishing rod and hers too.” Then the real morning comes back: he is “probably packed by now, having breakfast, ready to take the morning train back to the city. And she wouldn’t be there to say goodbye.” The question asks what the wish holds that the truth does not. The chapter only shows the wish; it does not say what Poppy is doing or thinking this morning.
A morning with no war in it. In the wish Poppy is not leaving. He is going fishing, like any summer day. For a minute it holds off the train.
If only she’d see Poppy in line with the other fishermen.
He was probably packed by now, having breakfast, ready to take the morning train back to the city.
A place kept for her. In the wish he still carries her rod, as if he has not given up on her. After she shut him out last night, she wants to believe he has not shut her out.
He’d be balancing the picnic basket and tackle box; he’d have his fishing rod and hers too.
And she wouldn’t be there to say goodbye.
A strong answer A strong response might say the wish gives Lily a morning without the war: Poppy is in line with the fishermen, not “ready to take the morning train,” so for a moment he is not leaving. Another might fasten on “hers too”: in the wish he still carries her rod, which keeps a place for her the morning after she said nothing to him. A thoughtful student may notice that the lump in her throat comes right after the wish, as if the wish makes the truth hurt more. Look for the “If only” and the real morning used side by side.
3. Last night Lily “acted as if she didn’t care, not one bit.” Who was that act for?Character
What it asks It asks about the silence at the center of the chapter. Last night Poppy told her about the train. “He had sat on the edge of her bed, his weight tilting the mattress down,” promising the war would be over and they would be back in Rockaway “with everything just the same.” Then: “She hadn’t said a word. She had acted as if she didn’t care, not one bit.” The word “acted” tells the reader it was not true. This morning she has “a terrible lump in her throat.” This is the first half of the hinge: a silence meant to show she does not care. The question asks whom the act was meant to reach or to fool. It does not say things are mended between them; nothing in this chapter mends them.
For Poppy. She wanted him to see she did not care, and to feel it. He leaned close and talked about coming back, and she gave him nothing at all. The silence was something she did to him.
He had sat on the edge of her bed, his weight tilting the mattress down, telling her the war would be over sometime and they’d be right back there in Rockaway with everything just the same.
She hadn’t said a word.
For herself. If she does not care, his leaving cannot hurt her. She was trying to make herself believe it. This morning the lump in her throat says it did not work.
She felt a terrible lump in her throat.
Now she swallowed hard over the lump in her throat.
A strong answer A strong response might say the act was for Poppy: he sat close enough to tip the mattress and promised “everything just the same,” and she “hadn’t said a word,” so her silence was meant to show him. Another might say it was for Lily herself: if she did not care, the train could not hurt, but the “terrible lump in her throat” shows the act never fooled her. A thoughtful student may say it was aimed at Poppy and landed on Lily. Look for the word “acted” and for evidence from both last night and this morning.
4. Albert is alone on the beach, and he turns toward Lily. What makes her hide from the only person in sight?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to notice who is near on a morning when people are going. From the attic, “No one was on the boardwalk except a gray gull,” whose skinny legs remind her of someone. Then she sees Albert “alone on the beach,” in a belt “miles too big for him,” and knows who the gull made her think of. He is “walking back and forth, shading his eyes with his hands, turning toward her.” Lily says, “Oh no you don’t,” and ducks to the back of the chimney. A moment before, she wished she could stay in the attic “forever.” The glimpse of Albert is not filler: it shows who is near while Margaret is gone and Poppy is going. The chapter does not say what Albert is looking for, or whether he sees her.
She wants to be alone. The attic is her hiding place, and she means to stay all day. Anyone seeing her would spoil it, so she guards it.
She wished she could stay there forever.
“Oh no you don’t,” she said under her breath.
He looks too much the way she feels. He is alone on the beach, like the lone gull on the empty boardwalk. Seeing someone that lonely is harder than being lonely by herself.
No one was on the boardwalk except a gray gull sitting on the railing, its feathers puffed out over its skinny legs.
He was alone on the beach, wearing a pale green shirt and shorts.
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily is guarding her hiding place: she has decided to stay “all morning, all day,” wishes she could stay “forever,” and “Oh no you don’t” is the voice of someone who will not be found. Another might say Albert is too much like her: he is “alone on the beach,” as lonely as the gull, and that is hard to look at. A student may also notice the word “ridiculous” and say she does not want this odd boy to see her sad. Look for the gull and the beach used together, and for no claim about what Albert is looking for.
1. Margaret’s note says, “Don’t worry, Lily. I’m coming back.” Does the note leave Lily feeling less alone, or more?
What it asks It asks the student to weigh a goodbye that did arrive. Behind the chimney, “Poor Eddie’s candy was gone, bag and all,” with only a crumpled wrapper left. Then the note: “Don’t worry, Lily. I’m coming back. Good luck to your Aunt C in Berlin, Germany. I won’t tell anyone.” A red LifeSaver is taped to it, “Lily’s favorite color.” Margaret said goodbye in words before she went, which is what Lily has not done for Poppy. Lily sucks the LifeSaver, “wondering if Poppy’s train had left.” The note shows who has gone and who has thought of her. It is not what sends Lily running: she stands up “suddenly,” and the chapter gives no reason.
Less alone. Someone thought of her before leaving. Margaret knows her favorite color, keeps her secret and promises to come back. In an empty house, the note is a friend’s voice.
And taped to the bottom was a LifeSaver, a red one, Lily’s favorite color.
I won’t tell anyone.
More alone. The note proves Margaret is really gone. The candy is gone too. And with Margaret’s LifeSaver in her mouth, Lily’s thoughts go straight to Poppy’s train. Even a kind note is one more goodbye, on a morning full of them.
Poor Eddie’s candy was gone, bag and all.
Lily leaned back against the rough chimney bricks, sucking on the LifeSaver wondering if Poppy’s train had left.
A strong answer A strong response might argue the note leaves Lily less alone: Margaret promises “I’m coming back,” keeps her secret with “I won’t tell anyone,” and chooses a LifeSaver in “Lily’s favorite color,” so someone was thinking of her. Another might argue it leaves her more alone: the candy is “gone, bag and all,” and the note is proof that Margaret has really left, one more person gone on the morning Poppy goes. The best answers pick a side, give two reasons, and may notice that Margaret managed the goodbye Lily did not. Look for no claim that the note is what sends Lily out the door.
2. Lily planned to stay in the attic all day. Then she runs for the train, but it is too late to get to the station. Did her plan work?
What it asks It asks the student to test Lily’s own plan against how the morning ends. Right after she knows “she wouldn’t be there to say goodbye,” she decides: “She wasn’t going back. She would stay in the attic all morning, all day, writing a book or something.” Later she stands up “suddenly,” clatters out of the house and does not stop “to see whether anyone saw her.” But “It was too late to get to the station.” In one way she got what she planned: she never has to say goodbye to Poppy’s face. In another way the plan broke the moment she ran. The question leads to the last one, about the wave. The chapter gives no reason for her standing up, so the card does not supply one, and it does not say she waited on purpose until it was too late.
It worked, in a way. She said she was not going back, and she never does go home. By the time she runs, she is too late for the station, so she never has to face Poppy. Last night’s silence is never broken to his face.
She wasn’t going back.
It was too late to get to the station.
It failed. Staying in the attic all day was a way of not caring, like the act she put on last night. But she bolts out the door without even checking who sees her. The plan could not hold once she let herself care.
She would stay in the attic all morning, all day, writing a book or something.
She didn’t stop to see whether anyone saw her.
A strong answer A strong response might say the plan worked, in a sad way: she told herself “She wasn’t going back,” and she never does, and by the time she runs “It was too late to get to the station,” so she never has to face Poppy. Another might say it failed: the plan was to stay “all morning, all day,” but she bolts out the door and “didn’t stop to see whether anyone saw her,” which is not how someone acts who does not care. The best answers may say both are true: she kept away from the goodbye and still could not stop caring. Look for the plan and the run used together, and for no invented reason why she stood up.
3. Lily starts waving as soon as she hears the train, before she can even see it. Why does Lily keep waving at the train when she knows Poppy can't see her?
What it asks It asks the whole question of the chapter. Last night Lily “acted as if she didn’t care, not one bit” and “hadn’t said a word.” This morning she hid, meaning to stay in the attic all day. Now, too late for the station, she runs to the viaduct and begins to wave “as soon as she heard the sound of it on the tracks, even before she saw it.” She does not stop “until it was a smudge in the distance, and then gone completely, even though she knew Poppy couldn’t have seen her.” The wave starts before she can see the train and goes on after it is gone, so at both ends no one is looking. The student weighs why she goes on, and whether a goodbye that is never seen still matters. The card does not say Poppy saw her or ever learns she came, and it does not say things are mended; that is left for later chapters.
It is for Poppy, seen or not. It is the goodbye she owed him and would not give on the bed. She gives it the only way left, starting before she can even see the train, as if every second counts.
She began to wave as soon as she heard the sound of it on the tracks, even before she saw it.
And she wouldn’t be there to say goodbye.
It is for Lily. She knows the wave cannot reach him. She keeps on because stopping would mean the goodbye is over and she missed it. The wave answers her own silence, for her own sake.
She didn’t stop until it was a smudge in the distance, and then gone completely, even though she knew Poppy couldn’t have seen her.
She had acted as if she didn’t care, not one bit.
A strong answer A strong response takes a side, gives reasons and answers the other side. A student who says the wave is for Poppy might point to how early it starts, “even before she saw it,” and to “she wouldn’t be there to say goodbye”: this is that goodbye, given the only way left. A student who says it is for Lily might point to “even though she knew Poppy couldn’t have seen her”: since it cannot reach him, it must be answering her own silence of last night. The best answers say whether a goodbye no one sees still counts, and why, without telling us Poppy ever knew.