ALA 2011 | Fodor's Free Guide Gets You Inside the Real New Orleans
NOLA students perspectives on the city informed the 2012 guide, which is available as a pdf for free download now Jun 17, 2011The editors of Fodor's, authors of "Where To Eat in New Orleans," in advance of the American Library Association (ALA) meeting, want to help ALA attendees enjoy New Orleans by offering a free PDF of Fodor's New Orleans 2012 (at www.fodors.com/new-orleans-pdf) available now. It's packed with the latest info on sights, attractions, maps, and, yes, more food, too.
The guide was enriched by the voices and views of students from New Orleans's KIPP Central middle school. Here's what how the editors described the project in LJ's ALA preview in the June 1 issue:
"I read your book, I like it, but here's what I think you should add," begins a letter by sixth-grader Irione, one of the more than 100 students at the New Orleans KIPP Central City middle school who wrote to Fodor's with their take on what should be included in the next edition of Fodor's New Orleans.
As a lesson in nonfiction writing, the students were tasked to read the Fodor's guidebook to their hometown and then write a compelling letter detailing the changes they'd like to see in the next edition because, after all, as 12-year-old Kenneth writes, "I live in New Orleans so I know everything about New Orleans."
What the students ended up doing was a lot more. "What an incredible thing to be able to get such a fresh, intimate portrait of the city from the perspective of an inner-city schoolchild," says Fodor's publisher Tim Jarrell. "Their honesty reminds us of the authentic, local New Orleans."
By far the most popular appeal was for inclusion of the Superdome and their favorite sports team. Promise writes, "One, the Saints play football games there. Two, they have special concerts and events there. Three, it was the only place to go during Hurricane Katrina. Please add the Superdome and Arena in your next book."
The neighborhood of Central City, near the convention center and where the kids go to school, gets no mention in the current edition but will be included in the maps of Fodor's New Orleans 2012 thanks to their letters.
Make the most of your visit during ALA, and to see more of the KIPP students' suggestions, with the free PDF of Fodor's New Orleans 2012 at www.fodors.com/new-orleans-pdf, now available.
Read more of LJ's ongoing ALA coverage.
