Putting Peace First: 7 Commitments to Change the World

by Eric David Dawson

Overview

Young people are hungry to change the world, but often aren't given the chance. This book empowers them to make change happen.

When he was just eighteen, Eric David Dawson co-founded the non-profit Peace First based on the idea that young people can change the world for the better—not someday, but right now. Twenty-five years later, Peace First has reached millions worldwide, teaching young people how to become peacemakers and create real change. Now, Dawson has written PUTTING PEACE FIRST, the handbook every aspiring peacemaker needs.

Using the inspiring stories of real life peacemakers, each chapter highlights a different aspect of peacemaking, from Opening Your Heart to Taking a Stand. With clear, step-by-step explanations of how each peacemaker achieved their goals, this book is a guide for anyone who wants to make a difference.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101997338
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	08/28/2018
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Eric David Dawson is the CEO and co-founder of Peace First. He got his professional start directing a summer camp in Boston's public housing complexes and doing organizing around disability awareness. He is an Ashoka, Echoing Green, and Pop!Tech Fellow. He lives with his wife and three children in Boston.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Confessions of an Angry Kid 1

Introduction: You've Been Lied To 4

Peacemaker Manifesto 8

Commitment 1 Put Peace First, Every Day 12

Commitment 2 Raise My Hand 22

Commitment 3 Open My Heart 34

Commitment 4 Take a Stand 46

Commitment 5 Bring Others Along 60

Commitment 6 Work with My Enemies? 72

Commitment 7 Keep Trying 84

Putting It Together 99

Epilogue: Pending Disasters 137

Acknowledgments 141

Index 144

Editorial Reviews

"A great title for budding changemakers" -School Library Journal

"A masterfully inspirational call to arms, the book is solidly anchored in reality, providing concrete, manageable actions and resources, as well as practical advice for navigating and persisting in the face of the certainty of encountering challenges, roadblocks, and resistance." -Voya

From the Publisher

08/01/2018
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

School Library Journal

2018-06-11
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 action—choosing to put peace first—Dawson 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)

Kirkus Reviews