Lily's Crossing
Chapter 9 — Teaching Companion
Patricia Reilly Giff · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Lily's lips tremble while she tells the mailman a story she made up. Are her tears part of the lie, or the truest thing she says that morning?
The tension Lily tells the mailman her father is “on a ship right now” and feels her lips tremble, “even though she didn't know if her father was on a ship, or still in New Jersey at Fort Dix, perfectly safe.”
Today's focus
Follow Lily’s made-up stories on the way to the mail, what each one reaches for while she waits for word from Poppy, and how the grown-ups she tells them to answer her.
Two core ideas
- Waiting with no news can fill up with stories: not knowing where Poppy is, Lily makes up a sick aunt and a Secret Service father to get past the grown-ups between her and his letter.
- The grown-ups Lily fools answer her with small kindnesses, and the war leaves them as unsure as she is: Mrs. Sherman sighs that “No one knows what’s going on,” and the mailman promises a letter he cannot be sure of.
The shape at a glance
The chapter takes one hot Thursday morning in Rockaway during the war. Lily has been ducking Albert for almost a week, and now he seems to be everywhere. But she is thinking about a letter from Poppy. So far the family has had only a quick postcard: he arrived safely, he misses her, they will fish next year, and a letter follows. At breakfast she pictures the real letter, thin, with a red, white, and blue border, and Gram reading it over her shoulder. The cream floating in her milk makes her shudder. She plans to catch the mailman on Cross Bay Boulevard before he reaches Gram’s house. Taking her saved money, she tells Gram she is going to Sherman’s Bakery. On the hot road she hears the cicadas, remembers Poppy calling them “the sound of summer,” and sees the days ahead “like long gray sheets on a wash line.” At the bakery Mrs. Sherman, her trays nearly empty, talks about butter and the egg man going into the service while Lily watches for the mailman. To get away, Lily says she has to pick up her grandmother’s medicine. When Mrs. Sherman asks if Gram is sick, Lily invents an aunt Celia in Europe with frostbite. Mrs. Sherman asks, “In July?”, sighs that it is the war and no one knows what is going on, and gives her two cookies for the price of one. Lily catches up with the mailman and asks for her mail. He says he has to deliver to her grandmother’s house. Lily says her father is in the Secret Service and told her to get the mail first. When the mailman asks if Jerry went overseas, she scolds him with the bakery poster, “Loose Lips Sink Ships,” and says her father is on a ship right now. Her lips tremble, though she does not know if Poppy is on a ship or still safe at Fort Dix in New Jersey. The mailman tells her not to cry and searches his sack. The letter he finds is not from her father but a dirty envelope, addressed in pencil, from Margaret. He promises a letter tomorrow. Lily says Poppy is very busy, and the mailman says Poppy is a great guy. She heads for the fishing dock to read Margaret’s letter alone, but a boy on a bicycle comes along the beach path with Albert running far behind him, stopping once to dart into the reeds. The rider leans his bike against a bench, tosses something into the water with a splash, and rides off, and the chapter ends as Albert runs toward Lily, waving his arms and shouting.
A way in
Before reading, ask the student what it is like to wait for news that is slow to come. Then read aloud from the start to Lily’s plan to “grab the mailman.” Ask how she might get him to hand the letter over. Read on to the end, and have the student listen for each thing Lily makes up, and for what each grown-up does when they hear it.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the morning back in five parts: breakfast, with the postcard and the letter Lily pictures; the hot road to Sherman’s; the bakery, from the empty trays to the two cookies; the boulevard, from “I need my mail” to Margaret’s envelope and the promise; and the dock, up to Albert running toward her. Look for the order, and for the student telling each made-up story as Lily’s story, not as fact.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes two or three sentences of their own about a morning they remember. Ask for one that starts with a short main clause and then adds two pictures after commas, each built on an -ing word, the way Giff writes “Already it was hot, the tar shimmering in the haze, the sound of the cicadas beginning.” Then ask for one line of speech split by its speaker tag, like “‘Listen,’ Poppy would say, ‘it’s the sound of summer.’” Look for commas inside the quotation marks, and for the small letter where the speech picks up again.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First list from the chapter everything Lily says this morning that is made up or that she cannot know: her grandmother’s medicine, aunt Celia’s frostbite, the Secret Service, the ship, and “He’s very busy.” Then ask which of them hold something true. The student argues one side of the hinge and you argue the other. Look for a student who uses the sentence about Fort Dix and the word “really” in “could really feel the tears now.” Keep the talk off whether lying is wrong; nobody in this chapter accuses Lily or is hurt by her stories, and both grown-ups answer her kindly.
Purpose Close with the poster over Mrs. Sherman’s counter. It warns people to keep quiet about the war, and Lily turns it on the mailman. Ask why Giff hangs it in the same bakery where Mrs. Sherman sighs that “No one knows what’s going on.” Leave open what the boy on the bicycle tossed into the water, why Albert is running, and what Margaret’s letter says; the chapter tells none of them.
Easier Read aloud together from the moment Lily bangs out of the bakery door to “Margaret. Only Margaret.” Retell what Lily tells the mailman and what he does. 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 two written questions in complete sentences, each with a reason and a line from the chapter.
Harder On a hot, bright road, Lily sees the days ahead “like long gray sheets on a wash line.” Ask the student to write a paragraph on why Giff chose that picture for waiting, setting it beside the As Good As New Shoppe window, where everything is “just the same.” Use only this chapter, and make no guess about where Poppy is.
Discussion
- The postcard already says “Miss you terribly.” What is Lily hoping a real letter will give her?Inference
What it asks It asks what the postcard leaves out. It is only a few lines: “Arrived safely. Miss you terribly. We’ll be fishing this time next year. Letter follows.” Poppy says he misses her, so love is not what is missing. Lily pictures the real letter down to the paper, “tissue thin with a red, white, and blue border, exactly the same as the letters Eddie Dillon sent home.” Later, on the boulevard, she pictures how it would open: with “Sweetheart,” or “Dear Lily Billy.” At breakfast she also pictures Gram leaning over her shoulder, reading faster than she can, and her whole plan is to reach the mailman first. The question asks what a letter would give her that the postcard cannot. It opens the last written question without asking it: “Arrived safely” does not say where he arrived, and later Lily does not know if he is on a ship or still at Fort Dix. The card does not say where Poppy is.
One reading
News of where he is. “Arrived safely” could mean anywhere. A real letter, like the ones Eddie Dillon sent home, would have room to tell what Poppy is doing and where. Without it, Lily has to guess.
Arrived safely.
She could see it in her mind, tissue thin with a red, white, and blue border, exactly the same as the letters Eddie Dillon sent home.
Another reading
Something that is only hers. The postcard came to the whole house. The letter in her mind starts with her own name from Poppy, “Dear Lily Billy,” and she wants it in her hands before Gram can read it over her shoulder. She even tells the mailman it is “My own mail.”
It would start with “Sweetheart,” or “Dear Lily Billy.”
Gram would be leaning over her shoulder, reading the letter, her lips moving slightly, reading even faster than she could.
Listen for
- Says what the postcard does say, and notices it already says Poppy misses her.
- Uses how Lily pictures the letter: the thin paper, the border, the way it would start.
- Notices Gram reading over her shoulder, and Lily’s plan to reach the mailman first.
- Names something the letter would give her, not only that she misses her father.
If stuck
- What does the postcard say, line by line?
- How does Lily picture the real letter? How would it start?
- Who else would read the letter if it came to Gram’s house first?
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily wants news: “Arrived safely” does not say where, and a real letter, like the ones Eddie Dillon sent home, might tell her where Poppy is and what he is doing. Another might say she wants something that is only hers: a letter that starts “Dear Lily Billy,” in her own hands before Gram can lean over her shoulder. A thoughtful student may say it is both, or notice that Lily calls it “My own mail” to the mailman. Look for the postcard’s own words used, and for an answer that goes past missing him, which the postcard already says.
- Mrs. Sherman gives Lily two cookies for the price of one. What does she think is going on with Lily?Character
What it asks It asks the student to stand behind the bakery counter. Lily wants to get out and catch the mailman. She says she must get her grandmother’s medicine, and when Mrs. Sherman asks if Gram is sick, Lily moves the sickness far away: “It’s my aunt Celia. In Europe.” Remembering news of “battles in Russia, with snow and biting cold,” she says “Frostbite.” Mrs. Sherman raises one eyebrow and asks, “In July?” Lily stumbles. Then Mrs. Sherman sighs, “It’s the war. No one knows what’s going on,” and gives her two cookies for the price of one. Before all this, Mrs. Sherman has been telling Lily what the war has done to her own shop: no butter, and the egg man gone into the service. The question asks what she makes of the girl in front of her; the prompt leaves the eyebrow and “In July?” for the student to find. Do not let the scene be only a joke; her sigh matters for the last written question. The card does not say Lily is found out or that the story does harm.
One reading
She thinks the trouble is real, even if the frostbite sounds odd. The war has already muddled her own life: no butter, no eggs, the egg man gone. In a war where “No one knows what’s going on,” a sick aunt in Europe is not so strange. The extra cookie is for a worried girl.
It’s the war. No one knows what’s going on.
The egg man went into the service,
Another reading
She doubts the story and is kind anyway. Her eyebrow and “In July?” suggest the frostbite sounds odd to her, and Lily cannot even finish her answer. Mrs. Sherman does not press. Whatever is wrong, she can see this girl is upset.
Mrs. Sherman raised one eyebrow.
I don’t know. I really—
Listen for
- Tells why Lily makes up aunt Celia: so Mrs. Sherman will not go to Gram’s, and so Lily can get away to catch the mailman.
- Uses the eyebrow and “In July?”
- Uses Mrs. Sherman’s sigh about the war, and what she has said about butter and eggs.
- Says what Mrs. Sherman thinks, not only what Lily thinks, and gives a reason from the bakery.
If stuck
- Why is Lily in such a hurry to leave the bakery?
- What does Mrs. Sherman do with her eyebrow when she hears about the frostbite, and what does she ask?
- What has the war done to Mrs. Sherman’s shop? Why might that matter to how she hears Lily?
A strong answer A strong response might say Mrs. Sherman thinks the trouble is real: the war has taken her butter and her egg man, and if “No one knows what’s going on,” an aunt with frostbite in Europe is not so strange. Another might say she doubts the story, since she raises an eyebrow and asks “In July?”, and still gives the extra cookie to a girl who is plainly upset. A thoughtful student may notice that Lily is Mrs. Sherman’s “first customer today,” and that her sigh fits Lily too, who does not know where Poppy is. Look for the eyebrow and the sigh used together, and for no claim that the story hurts anyone.
- Lily scolds the mailman with the words on the bakery poster: “Loose Lips Sink Ships.” Who is she protecting?Inference
What it asks It asks about the turn on the boulevard. The mailman will not hand over Gram’s mail, so Lily tries a new story: her father is in “The Secret Service” and told her to get the mail first. Then the mailman asks one plain question, “Jerry went overseas?” Lily answers with a scolding: “You know you’re not supposed to ask.” She reminds him of the poster over Mrs. Sherman’s counter, and warns that spies could be on Cross Bay Boulevard and that her father is on a ship right now. The poster was meant to keep people quiet about the war. Lily uses it to stop a question. The student decides whom that protects. This is one part of the last written question, the moment just before her lips tremble. The card does not say Poppy is on a ship or in danger.
One reading
Poppy, the way she says. If he is on secret work, loose talk on the boulevard could hurt him, and Lily is the one keeping it quiet. In her story, guarding his secret is a job she can do for him.
Spies could be walking up and down Cross Bay Boulevard, and my father, who’s on a ship right now . . .
He told me to be sure to get the mail first.
Another reading
Herself. “Jerry went overseas?” is a question Lily cannot answer, because she does not know where Poppy is. The poster lets her not answer it. It also keeps her Secret Service story going, so she can still get the letter.
Jerry went overseas?
She stopped, trying to think how to convince him.
Listen for
- Says what the mailman asks, and what Lily says back.
- Tells what the poster says and where Lily saw it.
- Names whom the scolding protects, and gives a reason from the boulevard.
- Keeps Poppy on a ship as Lily’s claim, not a fact.
If stuck
- What job does Lily give Poppy in her story?
- What does the mailman ask her about Poppy?
- Could Lily answer his question truthfully? What would she have to say?
A strong answer A strong response might say she is protecting Poppy, as she says: spies could be “walking up and down Cross Bay Boulevard,” and keeping his secret is something she can do for him. Another might say she is protecting herself: “Jerry went overseas?” is a question she cannot answer, and the poster lets her turn it back on the mailman while her story keeps her close to the letter. A thoughtful student may say she protects both, or notice that she is using a poster about keeping secrets to hide something she does not know. Look for the mailman’s question used, and for Poppy’s ship kept as Lily’s claim.
- On the boulevard Lily hates the mailman, but as she leaves she looks back to wave to him. What changed between them?Character
What it asks It asks about a turn the chapter makes quietly. The mailman will not hand over Gram’s mail, and when he asks “Jerry went overseas?” the narration says it flatly: “She hated the mailman.” A few minutes later, heading for the dock with Margaret’s letter in her pocket, Lily looks back once to wave to him. Between those two moments he answers her trembling lips with “Don’t cry, Lily,” goes through his sack for her, tells her the letter is not from her father, promises one tomorrow, and agrees that Poppy is “a great guy.” The student decides what turned the hate into a wave: something the mailman did, something in Lily, or both. The question keeps the mailman from being only the man in the way. It builds toward the last written question, since it is Lily’s trembling that makes him stop and look, without asking whether those tears were true. The card does not say a letter comes tomorrow, or that Poppy is on a ship.
One reading
The mailman showed who he was. Once Lily’s lips trembled, he stopped saying no and started looking. He went through dozens of envelopes for her, promised a letter tomorrow, and took Poppy’s side when she said he was busy. A man who does all that is hard to hate.
Don’t cry, Lily. Let me take a look.
“I know,” he said. “He’s a great guy.”
Another reading
Lily changed. She hated him only while he stood between her and a letter she was sure was in the sack. He had been doing his job the whole time. Once the letter turned out to be Margaret’s, there was nothing left to fight over, and she could see him plainly.
The letter was there, so close she could reach out and take it. She hated the mailman.
I’ve told you. I have to deliver to your grandmother’s house.
Listen for
- Says how Lily feels about the mailman on the boulevard, and what she does as she leaves.
- Names something the mailman does in between: “Don’t cry,” the search through his sack, the promise, or “a great guy.”
- Notices what made Lily hate him: the letter she was sure was in his sack.
- Says who changed, Lily or the mailman or both, and gives a reason from the boulevard.
If stuck
- How does Lily feel about the mailman when the letter is “so close”? What does she do when she walks away?
- What does the mailman do after her lips start to tremble?
- Was the mailman ever against Lily? What was he trying to do all along?
A strong answer A strong response might say the mailman changed, or showed who he was: once Lily’s lips trembled he said “Don’t cry, Lily,” went through his sack for her, promised a letter tomorrow and agreed that Poppy is “a great guy.” Another might say Lily changed: she hated him only while he stood between her and a letter she was sure was in the sack, and once it turned out to be Margaret’s there was nothing left to fight about. A thoughtful student may notice that he was doing his job all along (“I have to deliver to your grandmother’s house”), or that he is the one person who has just promised her Poppy’s letter will come. Look for both moments named, the hate and the wave, and for no claim that a letter comes tomorrow.
Critical thinking
- The mailman promises Lily a letter tomorrow. How close is that promise to the stories she tells?
What it asks It asks the student to set a grown-up’s words beside Lily’s. Lily has told three stories this morning: her grandmother’s medicine, aunt Celia’s frostbite and the Secret Service. The mailman has just found that the letter is not from her father. Then he says, “There’ll be a letter tomorrow. Betcha.” He tells her to come right down to Cross Bay. When Lily says Poppy is “very busy,” he says, “I know,” though he cannot know that either, and at the end he says, “You can count on it.” Earlier Mrs. Sherman sighed that “No one knows what’s going on.” The student weighs how far the mailman’s promise is from Lily’s made-up stories. The prompt does not say he cannot know; noticing that is part of the work. It gives the last written question its ground without asking it. The card does not say a letter comes tomorrow, and it does not judge Lily’s stories as wrong.
One reading
Very different. Lily’s stories get her something: out of the bakery, and close to the mail. The mailman wants nothing from her. He says it to comfort her, and his promise could come true, while there is no aunt Celia at all.
She’d never get out of there.
There’ll be a letter tomorrow. Betcha.
Another reading
Closer than it looks. Both of them say something they do not know, to get through a hard moment. Lily does not know where Poppy is; the mailman does not know what tomorrow’s sack will hold, yet he tells her “You can count on it.” In this war, as Mrs. Sherman says, nobody knows.
You can count on it.
It’s the war. No one knows what’s going on.
Listen for
- Names at least one of Lily’s stories and what it is for.
- Notices that the mailman cannot know what tomorrow’s sack will hold, and uses his own words: “Betcha,” “I know,” or “You can count on it.”
- Names a likeness as well as a difference.
- Answers in complete sentences, says what the other side would say, and keeps tomorrow’s letter as a promise.
If stuck
- What stories does Lily tell this morning, and what does each one get her?
- What does the mailman promise? Can he be sure of it?
- Why might he say it? Why does Lily tell her stories?
A strong answer A strong response might argue the promise is very different: Lily’s stories get her out of the bakery and close to the mail, while the mailman wants nothing and says it to comfort her, and it could come true. Another might argue the two are closer than they look: both say something they do not know to get through a hard moment, and the mailman even says “I know” when Lily says Poppy is busy. The best answers use at least one of Lily’s stories and the mailman’s own words, answer the other side, and claim nothing about a letter coming tomorrow.
- Lily's lips tremble while she tells the mailman a story she made up. Are her tears part of the lie, or the truest thing she says that morning?
What it asks It asks the whole question of the chapter. Lily needs the mailman to hand over the mail, so she makes Poppy a Secret Service man and is “trying to think how to convince him.” When he asks “Jerry went overseas?”, she scolds him with the poster and says her father is “on a ship right now.” Then: “She could feel her lips trembling even though she didn’t know if her father was on a ship, or still in New Jersey at Fort Dix, perfectly safe.” The mailman says, “Don’t cry, Lily,” and searches his sack. When he plucks out a letter she breathes in, “and could really feel the tears now.” The word “really” is worth a pause: were the first tears less real, or have they only grown? The student weighs whether the trembling belongs to the story she is telling or to the not knowing underneath it. The chapter is not asking whether lying is wrong; nobody here accuses Lily or is hurt by her stories. The card does not say Poppy is on a ship or in danger, that a letter comes tomorrow, or what Margaret’s letter says.
One reading
Part of the lie. Lily is working to convince the mailman, and the trembling comes while she is telling the biggest story yet. It works, too: he stops arguing and starts looking. Even the word “really” later suggests the first tears were not quite real.
She stopped, trying to think how to convince him.
Don’t cry, Lily. Let me take a look.
Another reading
The truest thing she says. The story is made up, but the fear in it is not. Lily does not know where Poppy is, and that is just what makes her lips shake. A ship is a guess at the worst. When the letter comes out of the sack, the tears are all the way there.
She could feel her lips trembling even though she didn’t know if her father was on a ship, or still in New Jersey at Fort Dix, perfectly safe.
She breathed in, and could really feel the tears now.
Listen for
- Takes a position and gives at least two reasons from the chapter.
- Uses the sentence about Fort Dix, and what Lily does not know.
- Uses the word “really” in “could really feel the tears now,” and says what it suggests.
- Answers the other side, and keeps the ship as Lily’s guess, not a fact.
If stuck
- What does Lily tell the mailman about her father?
- What does she not know while she is saying it?
- What happens to her tears when the mailman pulls out a letter? Why might Giff say “really”?
A strong answer A strong response takes a position, gives reasons and answers the other side. A student might argue the tears are part of the lie: Lily is “trying to think how to convince him,” the trembling comes during her biggest story, and it is what makes him look, while “could really feel the tears now” hints the first ones were not all real. Another might argue they are the truest thing she says: the ship is made up, but she “didn’t know” whether Poppy was on a ship or “perfectly safe,” and that not knowing is what shakes her. A thoughtful student may say the story and the fear grew together, the way aunt Celia’s frostbite grew from news of the war. Look for the Fort Dix sentence used, and for no claim that Poppy is on a ship or in danger.