Radical Reads 2 is basically a list of books that have been challenged in recent years. For each book listed in Radical Reads 2, there is a book talk, a list of characters (and a little about each one), subject areas that are covered in the book, major themes and ideas, book report ideas, booktalk ideas, risks, strengths, awards given for the book and at least three reviews for each book. Now, great as all of this sounds there's more...I know, hard to believe, but really there's more. At the very beginning of the book Bodart has listed some very easy to understand, actually written more for students, tips on how to write a good book report, and also how to give an effective book talk. At the very end of the book, there are multiple indices. Bodart has indexed the books by author, genre, subject, and curriculum area.
One of the appendices is titled, Censorship: What It Is, Why It Is, and How to Deal with It. This section of Radical Reads 2 is really interesting. It defines censorship and intellectual freedom based on the ALA definition, but more than just define censorship, it really goes into great detail and even goes so far as to say that censors believe they have this higher moral standard that everyone should agree with and abide by, but in reality most people agree that parents should be the only ones who have the right to tell their child what they can or can not read. This section also has pretty good rules of thumb of how to deal with a "challenge".
In another one of the appendices, How to Write a Rationale, not only are we taught how to write a rationale, but we get a solid definition, we get the reason why we should write a rationale as well as guidelines for writing it. Part of those guidelines are things such as making sure you have a bibliographic citation, a brief summary of the work, the relationship of the book to the program and the impact of the book, just to name a few. Bodart even gives us a sample Teacher's Rationale Form, and an English Department Rationale Form.
I absolutely love this book. It's one of the few "professional books" I'd actually recommend to my friends. The fact that it lists so many titles of books is amazing, but then to also give you the amount of ideas to use with EACH book is outstanding. I mean really. The booktalks, the book report ideas, the main ideas and themes, not to mention the character lists all of these things practically build a lesson plan with little to no work at all. For those of us who will be new librarians soon, the How to Write a Rationale section at the end of the book is just what we need. I like how to the point it is. The other thing I really like about the two appendices at the end of the book are they seem real. The information that is given doesn't seem to apply only to those "ideal" schools or situations. It seems like it's information for everyday people in everyday situations. I just can't seem to say enough about Radical Reads 2. I checked this one out from the library, but will be sure to purchase my own copy.
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