Lily's Crossing (13 page)

Dear Reader:

I truly hope you’ve enjoyed reading Lily’s story.

It seems that Lily’s world has always been in my head. I’ve wanted to write about that world for years. Rockaway Beach, the Atlantic Ocean, ships steaming in convoys toward Europe, and the Second World War were part of my childhood. I remember the summer of 1944, remember the invasion and the news of the allied armies as they marched across France and liberated Paris late that August. I remember the fears of that time, and how personal it all was. I was surprised that other people, sometimes even adults, thought about the same things I did and had much the same worries. But most of all, I remember that friendship, in the secret world of childhood, added comfort and joy and was the very texture of my life.

I’ve written about friendship before, but in a lighthearted way, laughing as I’ve worked through the lives of Casey, Tracy & Company and the Polk Street Kids. But this time, I wanted to explore what happens to people as they forge a relationship in a more serious way. I wanted to tell my readers that even though the times are different now, people have always worried about the same things . . . loss and separation, the future, and sometimes war. I want readers to know that love and friendship make a difference.

Patricia Reilly Giff

Patricia Reilly Giff
is the author of many beloved books for children, including the Kids of the Polk Street School books, the Friends and Amigos books, and the Polka Dot Private Eye books. Her novels for middle-grade readers include
The Gift of the Pirate Queen
and the Casey, Tracy & Company books. She lives in Weston, Connecticut.

A
LSO BY
P
ATRICIA
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IFF

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Love, from the Fifth-Grade Celebrity

Fourth-Grade Celebrity

The Girl Who Knew It All

Left-Handed Shortstop

The Winter Worm Business

Rat Teeth

Have You Seen Hyacinth Macaw?

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Tootsie Tanner, Why Don’t You Talk?

Published by

Delacorte Press

Random House Children’s Books, Inc.

1540 Broadway

New York, New York 10036

Copyright © 1997 by Patricia Reilly Giff

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

The trademark Delacorte Press
^®
is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Giff, Patricia Reilly.

Lily’s Crossing / Patricia Reilly Giff.

p. cm.

Summary: During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily’s friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.

1. World War, 1939–1945—United States—Juvenile fiction.   [1. World War, 1939–1945—United States—Fiction.   2. Friendship—Fiction.   3. Refugees—Fiction.   4. Beaches—Fiction.]   I. Title.

PZ7.G3626St  1997

[Fic]—dc20

96-23021

CIP  

AC

eISBN: 978-0-385-72993-2

v3.0