Historical Fiction Book Review: Lily's Crossing

Bibliography

Giff, Patricia Reilly. 1997.  Lily's Crossing. New York: Random House Children’s Books. ISBN 9780440414537

Plot Summary

Lily made a great new friend in Rockaway.  Albert, was a Hungarian boy who escaped from the Nazi's, Lily met him during the summer of 1944 at the peak of World War II.  Everything started to occur when her best friend Margaret left Rockaway, Beach because her father was transferred to a wartime factory in Michigan.  Lily also had a tough time dealing with her father leaving to win the war.  Lily and her new friend Albert can't seem to stay out of trouble with the lies that Lily tells.  One lie may jeopardize the friendship between Albert and Lily.

Critical Analysis

This is a great book about friendship with hard and happy times.   The book presents life during World War II. It presents the reader with a whole new world in the little town named Rockaway, New York where families and friends become close knit and help each other out. Also, by inviting everyone over to dinner. The war helps Lily become closer to her friends and family during these rough times. It also helps her to become trustworthy with her friends and to stop lying to everybody.  This book is very suspenseful and easy to comprehend. 

Reviews Excerpts/Awards    

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Giff's well-drawn, believable characters and vivid prose style make this an excellent choice.”

American Library Association Notable Children’s Books

Jefferson Cup Award Honor Book

Boston Globe- Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature Honor Book

KIRKUS: “It's a strong ending to a deftly told story.”

John Newbery Medal Honor Book

BOOKLIST: “With wry comedy and intense feeling, and without intrusive historical detail, Giff gets across a strong sense of what it was like on the home front during World War II.”

Connections

-According to the book, have students write a paragraph telling how they think life was like back in 1944. 

-Students can watch this movie, Since You Went Away (1944) Anne Hilton must cope with life while her husband is fighting in World War II.  This relates to Lily's father leaving because of World War II.

-Research more about the Holocaust at this website.  http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org This Web site contains survivor stories, photographs, discussions, an audio gallery as well as a historical introduction to the Holocaust.