Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Dawson, cofounder of the national nonprofit Peace First, has written a handbook for young people who want to make a difference now, not when they get older. The book begins with a Peacemaker Manifesto, or set of seven commitments, for young people to aspire to do: Put Peace First, Every Day; Raise My Hand; Open My Heart; Take a Stand; Bring Others Along; Work with My Enemies; Keep Trying. Chapters highlight seven young people who embraced each of these commitments by creating a peacekeeping project that made a difference in their communities. The book offers practical suggestions for teens to identify a local issue of interest to them, strategies for a solution to the problem, tips for implementing an action plan, and advice on how to troubleshoot any challenges that might occur. To raise awareness about disabilities, one project had college students with and without disabilities play basketball together, which expanded to other sports and became a mutual mentoring program. The templates included here to help youth plan their project goals are particularly useful. Not every idea presented was successful, but the teens persevered despite that, and their stories will empower and inspire others to fight to make a difference, too.--Sharon Rawlins Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Dawson, CEO and cofounder of the global nonprofit Peace First, has spent the last 25 years supporting teens in creating real change. Dawson continues his work in this handbook filled with inspirational stories of young people, ranging in age from 15 to 22, who faced or witnessed injustice and the steps they took to become a peacemaker. The book begins with seven commitments designed to inspire readers into action, including "Put Peace First, Every Day, Open My Heart" and "Take a Stand." Each commitment includes a personal story. Katebah, a 15-year-old girl whose family left Yemen to live in Oakland, saw the students in her school and members of her community growing numb to deaths from gun violence. Katebah found like-minded friends, and together they organized events such as a celebratory march for peace. At the end of each chapter, Dawson includes a helpful step-by-step guide on putting each vision into practice. VERDICT A great title for budding changemakers.-Joy Poynor, Farmington Public Library, AR © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A handbook encouraging young people to make a difference right now, no matter their ages.Dawson, co-founder of the global nonprofit Peace First, which invests in young peacemakers' ideas, knows about putting peace into action. He details the steps to be taken and emotional support needed on a peacemaker's journey. The majority of the book describes the seven commitments that Dawson believes are essential to becoming a peacemaker. These lean heavily into one another, and they're made distinct by individual examples of young peacemakers' own stories of change. Issues of cyberbullying, gun violence, and attacks on immigrant students are ones that are faced in these pages and also every day in schools around the world. By internalizing the seven commitments, standing up, and taking actionchoosing to put peace firstDawson argues, the world could change, one student at a time. These anecdotes are inspirational, but Dawson also includes a practical starting guide for any readers who need concrete steps on how to begin to think and plan for change. Dawson is careful to point out (the seventh commitment is "Keep Trying," and the epilogue is aptly named "Pending Disasters") that nothing is perfect. Change is difficult, especially if you are trying to right an injustice, but this manual helps readers past excuses. (index) (Nonfiction. 10-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
