Not sure what she’s pointing at. Interesting pants.

Not sure what she’s pointing at. Interesting pants.
Representation of queer, or at least non-traditional, gender expressions was an important part of this project.
So far, we’ve had some characters that were deliberately ambiguous on gender, presenting as more-or-less androgenous. Today’s character is a little different. They’re wearing traditionally female clothing, but their hair and facial features are drawn using visual cues that typically read as masculine. However, I tried to make it ambiguous enough that it still wasn’t entirely clearcut. Personally, I’d hesitate to guess how this child identifies. I’d have to ask for their pronouns.
I’m not certain I got the age to read quite right. They may look a little older than they should.
I don’t really have much to say about this one. Just a boy in jeans and a hoodie.
Now we start the 7-9 age range. From here on out you’ll note that we have put all the characters in modest dress, though in this age range, the girls still have their heads uncovered. Since people with Middle Eastern heritage are often (though not exclusively) Muslim, we wanted to honor that by at least not showing lots of skin in this batch. But since our market is primarily US-based, we wanted to reflect what Americans Muslims of Middle Eastern descent typically wear. Therefore, we chose not to put girls in the 7-9 age range in hijabs, but you will see hijabs in the older age ranges.
This little guy is happy, isn’t he?
New batch. This time we’re doing Middle Eastern people. I don’t really like how this girl turned out. I’ve got her head too far forward and it looks awkward, I think.
Page 14 doesn’t have an image, so we skip on to page 15 from The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine. This is the last illustration and the end of the book.
It’s not a completely happy ending because, even though Leena’s back in her own home, Amaya’s family lost their house. This is supposed to be a “tough subjects” series, so a not entirely happy ending is appropriate. But it’s not all bad because Amaya has sent Leena a letter saying how they found a place to live and are doing okay. They even sent pictures.
I made sure it’s the same couch and wall as page 4 so it’s definitely the same house. It comes full circle.
Here’s the 10th illustration for the book project I just finished for Learning A-Z. Page 12 of The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine.
In the gym again, this time all crowded around a new character, Juana, who is covered in ash.
Here’s the 9th illustration for the book project I just finished for Learning A-Z. Page 11 of The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine.
This one is another gym scene. Almost like the camera pulled backwards from the last illustration.
Here’s the second illustration for the book project I just finished for Learning A-Z. Page 4 of The Neighborhood’s Night by Juliana Catherine. This scene is in a cloud to show that it’s a flashback to the previous day when they family had all packed their emergency supplies in preparation to evacuate if the fires got too near. You can see a collection of emergency supplies laid out on the floor ready to be packed into duffle bags, one per person. Mama is putting a tag on little Amir’s ankle so that he can be reunited with the family if he gets separated.