| BASIC INFO | LANGUAGE LEVEL | COMPREHENSION-AIDING FEATURES |
|---|---|---|
| Book Title Juliana Author(s) Rosana Navarro, Margarita Pérez García Illustrator(s) Avoltha Other Contributors Les Solot Published by Genre Animal Fiction (based on real events) Publication date 2018 #Ownvoices No | From the author/publisher’s website Level 1 Total Word Count 2,650 | Illustrations YES Glossary YES Guiding Questions NO Context YES Other Authors’ background |
| IDENTITIES PRESENT IN THE TEXT | SYNOPSIS | |
|---|---|---|
| Races, Ethnicities, and Nationalities White Spaniards Languages spoken Spanish Sex and Genders Human males Animal females Ages Adult Social classes Middle Class, Upper Class | Sexual Orientation N/A Abilities Non-disabled Sensory sensitivity Religions N/A Family Structures Colony of bats Body Type N/A | From the author/publisher’s website Juliana is special–a rare albino bat who lives with her brother in a secret cave in Spain. But Juliana is unhappy. She doesn’t seem to fit in with her bat colony. Not only does she look different, she does everything differently. Far-fetched plans and crazy ideas, that’s her! One day, she feels a strange vibration coming from outside the cave. What is it? She senses danger but no one will listen. Juliana sets off to investigate and is drawn into an adventure that takes her far beyond the safety of her cave. Will she survive? Can she use her special abilities to save her colony from destruction? |
| ILLUSTRATIONS | STORY | SOCIAL JUSTICE |
|---|---|---|
| To what extent do the illustrations present positive and thoughtful representations of identities? In the story Juliana is the “different” one in her colony because she is albino, which makes her white (the other bats are black), but when her brother ‘Sombra’ talks to the leader of the colony, he is shown as a white bat. | We understand identities are complex and no single story represents the spectrum of identity-based experiences. Also, a text may address a stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization without relying on it. Does any stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization affect any positive and thoughtful representations of identities in the text? No | This section is for teachers who are working towards sourcing more texts within the four domains of anti-bias education. We are excited about reading all books and we understand that not all books are written for this specific purpose. Does this text work toward goals within any of the four domains of anti-bias education as defined by Teaching Tolerance? Identity: Promote a healthy self-concept and exploration of identity Diversity: Foster intergroup understanding Justice: Raise awareness of prejudice and injustice Action: Motivate students to act by highlighting individual and collective struggles against injustice |
| LLLAB’s REVIEW |
|---|
| Juliana brings awareness to being different: the story features an albino protagonist, which is an important step towards inclusion. It also highlights the importance of respecting and protecting animals’ environments and shows a way to work with this in mind. This story presents a positive way on how humans and animals can coexist and also shows that when you care (as a human) you can make things work. Another very important message is that not everything is about money; respecting the environment should go above all. The story per-se shows that when you are different, your own people may bully you; and the “different” one, the one that no one was counting on, may be the one that ends up saving the day. All of these topics could lead to very meaningful classroom discussions. The book clearly states that Juliana is the only albino bat in her colony, that she is the different one, but the illustrations show something different as Merlin, the elder bat is also portrayed as white (page 9 and page 32). This might be confusing to the reader. Being a story centered on animals, people’s identities are not at the center, but as aids to the story. The only two humans that are part of the story are men, although a woman could have played one of those roles. The only female character is a bat. As for the boss in the construction site, his name is Sr. Rico (rich). He is mean and only cares about money and efficiency. Teachers might want to guide a discussion around his name and his attitude: he is not bad because he is rich, but because of the actions he has taken to put an entire colony of bats in danger in order to build a highway. |
LLLAB 