LILY'S CROSSING

1.    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Giff, Patricia Reilly. 1999. LILY’S CROSSING. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-440-41453-9

2. PLOT SUMMARY

LILLY’S CROSSING is the adventurous story of a young girl on her summer vacation to the bay during the summer of 1944. Lily’s vacation starts off with disappointing news from her summer friend that she is moving away and may never come back. Even though a long trusted friend is gone, a new kid appears with a strange accent and a love for orange cats. Lily’s befriends this new face and learns how to be a true friend all while World War II rages on across the globe and inconveniently interjects itself between her and her beloved father.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The story of Lily’s summer is full of her daily activities and musings about life and wild lies that correspond with her daydreams. Giff portrays Lily’s day to day life with accuracy of how hard money, groceries, and other things like gas were to get a hold of. Giff also includes details about listening to the news on the radio constantly and having it as a soundtrack to the life of everyone during the war. The war touches everyone and the daily reminders of ships passing in the ocean and patrol flights flying overhead are tough enough, but when young soldiers go missing in action and fathers are taken over seas to the front lines to rebuild; there is a depth of realism brought to the reader that is a very tangible.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

AMAZON.COM REVIEW: ”Left alone with her grandmother in the family's summer home in Rockaway, New York, Lily befriends Albert, a shy Hungarian refugee her own age.”

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: "has all the ingredients that best reward readers."

5. CONNECTIONS

*This book is a good way to help young readers understand what World War II was like for many young children that sacrificed along with the whole country. Teaching guides can be purchased on Amazon.com to accompany the book.

*Look for these similar books.

Burg, Ann. REBEKKAH’S JOURNEY: A WORLD WAR II REFUGEE STORY. ISBN  978-1585362752

Herman, Charlotte. A SUMMER ON 13^TH STREET:2. ISBN 978-0525446422