Juanita and the Whales

By Pedro Chávez

A global corporation is about to build the world's largest salt plant at Laguna San Ignacio, a huge salt-water bay off the Pacific Ocean and half-way down the Baja California peninsula. Most local residents are in favor of the project, but not Juanita, a nine-year-old girl who lives next to the water and in a desert-like stretch called La Laguna. She believes that the salt plant is going to get in the way of the gray whales that yearly visit the lagoon from the coast off Alaska.

In an attempt to influence the cancellation of the saltworks project, Juanita participates in a letter-writing campaign locally begun by an old man named Don Juli n. He opposes the construction of the plant but for different reasons. He feels certain that the project, if built, will forever damage the area's habitat.

Although none of the rumored information about the proposed saltworks had been officially confirmed, Juanita's mind soon becomes pounded by endless worries regarding the whales and the effect that such a project might have on them and the lagoon. As ominous thoughts continue to off and on trouble her, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She would warn the whales about the salt plant, she told herself, and would suggest to them what to do to stop the construction crews from doing their work.

Juanita and the Whales is a novella for readers of all ages and a work of fiction with a historical backdrop. The real-life, proposed project, slated to build a huge saltworks at Laguna San Ignacio, was cancelled on March 3, 2000.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CCXRM691
• ISBN13: 9798853818439
• Release Date: July 2023
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 74 Pages
• Weight: 0.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"