This insider’s account of the 2013 Super Bowl blackout cuts across the city’s cultural landscape to reveal what change has meant for New Orleanians. Hosting the Super Bowl was set to be a major event for New Orleans. Not only was it a commercial boon for the city, but it would also be the first game played in the Superdome since it had been used as a shelter during Hurricane Katrina. As the big game approached, the entire city was determined to present its best face to the world. Politicians, business leaders and tourism officials declared the rise of the "new New Orleans.” But as game day neared, the preparations revealed the strains of the post-Katrina recovery and the contrasts of the heralded renaissance. The watershed moment culminated in darkness when the lights went out in the Superdome. In this revealing portrait of the breathless months before the game, author Brian W. Boyles unearths the conflicts, ambitions and secret histories that defined the city as it prepared for Super Bowl XLVII.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding region in 2005, the city debated whether to press on with Mardi Gras or cancel the parades. Ultimately, they decided to proceed. New Orleans’s recovery certainly has resulted from a complex of factors, but the city’s unique cultural life—perhaps its greatest capital—has been instrumental in bringing the city back from the brink of extinction. Voicing a civic fervor, local writer Chris Rose spoke for the importance of Carnival when he argued to carry on with the celebration of Mardi Gras following Katrina: “We are still New Orleans. We are the soul of America. We embody the triumph of the human spirit. Hell, we ARE Mardi Gras." Since 2006, a number of new Mardi Gras practices have gained prominence. The new parade organizations or krewes, as they are called, interpret and revise the city’s Carnival traditions but bring innovative practices to Mardi Gras. The history of each parade reveals the convergence of race, class, age, and gender dynamics in these new Carnival organizations. Downtown Mardi Gras: New Carnival Practices in Post-Katrina New Orleans examines six unique, offbeat, Downtown celebrations. Using ethnography, folklore, cultural studies, and performance studies, the authors analyze new Mardi Gras’s connection to traditional Mardi Gras. The narrative of each krewe’s development is fascinating and unique, illustrating participants’ shared desire to contribute to New Orleans’s rich and vibrant culture.

The Infektsi, a group of Chechen mercenaries, have entered the city of New Orleans, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. ICE agents Cole and Ezra head to Louisiana to try and keep the terrorists from taking out a main hub of the US power grid.

When disaster strikes, school librarians can play a key role in keeping kids safe. This is the only book written specifically to provide school librarians with emergency preparedness and recovery tools as well as curricular tie-ins. No school is immune to disaster, whether in the form of a natural event like a tornado or a tragedy like the violence that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The key to minimizing injury or death in an emergency is preparedness—something the school librarian is uniquely positioned to lead. This must-have book will show you how to be proactive in getting your school ready for the worst. It provides comprehensive preparedness and recovery plans, check lists, and curricular recommendations on preparedness that can be tailored to your individual library and community. Covering natural disasters, human-made disasters, and school violence, the book shows you how to conduct drills, assess vulnerabilities and risk, communicate preparedness plans, and use bibliotherapy for disaster recovery. It also describes how your library can be a safe haven for students who feel disconnected, bullied, or otherwise disenfranchised. Although the book is primarily intended for school librarians, classroom teachers will also find many ideas here for helping students be better prepared for disasters, whatever their cause or severity.