I was a kid when New York City had its big blackout in the 1970s. Stories of looting gave the Big Apple a big, black eye for decades. By the time a power outage hit again a few years ago, the city had returned to a more civilized, neighbor-helping-neighbor kind of place.
Blackout
by John Rocco
Hyperion
Natalia Ortega-Brown reviews a picture book called "Blackout" that captures a kid's-eye-view of the more recent night the lights went out. Ortega-Brown should know — she's an ESL teacher in the South Bronx and blogs at "A Picture Book a Day." She says "Blackout" is one of her favorite books of the year:
It captures perfectly what it felt like to be in New York City during the last big blackout. It was a block party! The sense of family extended beyond the walls of the apartments to include whole neighborhoods. We were almost sad when the lights came back on…
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