Praying to AL Author:Judith Caseley People don't just up and die in the middle of the kitchen ... in the middle of lunch ... in the middle of their lives, do they? Sierra's father does, and suddenly life is blurred and unreal. Her five-year-old brother seems more concerned about what he's having for breakfast, and though Mama's trying hard, she's lost in her own sorrow. No amount ... more »of sympathy from Aunt Rose, Tia Claudia, or the. rest of Sierra's well-meaning Jewish Cuban extended family can bring the focus back.But there is the junk-shop portrait of Abraham Lincoln--Sierra's historical idol--that had been one of Papa's "finds." With A. L.'s kind eyes and craggy, melancholy face staring out from the frame, it's as if he is Sierra's confidant, listening to what she longs to say so she can let Papa go ... and let her family back in.Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL)