Book Review: Lily's Crossing

Patricia Reilly Giff is an author my mother recommended to me and I'm pretty sure it was this children's book she encountered first to draw her in. Lily's Crossing is a tender tale of friendship during a time of war and uncertainty. For those who were young children (as my parents were) at the time of World War II, this will, no doubt, stir memories of that perilous time and the emotions which surged when brothers and fathers went to war, when specialty items were rationed, and when life felt like it would never be the same again.

From the back cover: "This year, as in other years, Lily has planned a spectacular summer in Rockaway, in her family's cozy house on stilts over the Atlantic Ocean. But by the summer of 1944, World War II has changed almost everyone's life. Lily's best friend, Margaret, and her family have moved to a wartime factory town, and worse, much worse, Lily's father is on his way overseas to the war.

"There's no one else Lily's age in Rockaway until Albert comes, a refugee from Hungary, a boy with a secret sewn into his coat. Albert has lost most of his family in the war: he's been through things Lily can't imagine. But when they join together to rescue and care for a kitten, they begin a special friendship. For Lily and Albert have their own secrets to share. They both have told lies, and Lily has told a lie that may cost Albert his life."

I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet tale. It certainly evoked emotion within me. I came to love Lily and her faults and foibles. I rooted for the budding friendship. I cried in the moments of peril and of triumph.