DO YOU HEAR ME, MR. LINCOLN?

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln provides unexpected comfort for 13-year-old Sierra when her father’s sudden death leaves her dry-eyed, angry and lonely. Her grieving mother escapes into a house-cleaning frenzy, her younger brother suffers nightmares and her best friend seems like a “book that she could no longer read.” Sierra retreats to her bedroom, where she finds solace in Lincoln’s portrait and a book of his writings containing a condolence letter he sent a young girl whose father died. Caseley shows the isolated, bereft Sierra chatting to Lincoln, her “secret companion,” and these poignant conversations trigger memories of her father, who seems to resemble “A.L.” As Sierra gradually works through her sorrow, she realizes how much her father loved her and that he would expect her to carry on without him. From her stunned response during her father’s funeral to her cathartic portrayal of Lincoln’s wife in the class play, readers will find Sierra a credible, engaging character who emerges from grief a sadder but wiser teen. Authentic and moving. (Fiction. 12-15)