Making It Right: Building Peace, Settling Conflict - Hardcover

Peters, Marilee

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554518105 ISBN 13: 9781554518104

Publisher: Annick Press, 2016

Synopsis

What if there were no prisons? Alternative approaches to dealing with crime are underway around the world to explore how victims, offenders, and communities can heal rifts and repair damage. It’s often called restorative justice. It’s a way to think about the deeper reasons behind crimes, and suggests that by building more caring communities, it’s possible to change our societies and ourselves.

Making It Right relates true stories of young people who are working in innovative ways to further peaceful resolution of conflict and to heal past wounds. The book begins with individual injustices, such as bullying, and works up to collective ones, like wars. Each chapter begins with a dramatic fictional account, making the topic engaging and relevant for kids.

Restorative justice isn’t going to change the world overnight, nor will it end all crime or prevent all wars. But it’s a powerful way to get teens thinking about how they can participate in building a more peaceful society.

About this title

About the Author

Marilee Peters has her M.A. in English Literature and a Masters in Library Science. She works as a Communications Officer and edits a magazine. She has two children and writes whenever she can. She lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

From School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up—Part examination of contemporary criminal justice and part treatise on the effectiveness of restorative justice, this title aims to humanize all parties involved in a crime, with an emphasis on community building. While restorative justice is not prevalent in the United States, it has gained traction—especially when the alternatives (juvenile detention and prison) are more likely to mar the course of young people's lives. The text explores restorative justice as it is implemented around the world. The concept involves offenders coming face-to-face with the people who were affected by their actions and making reparations through service instead of jail time. Each chapter is prefaced with a short fictional story, based on real-life occurrences, that acts as a launching point for a particular topic (a story about cyberbullying in London opens a discussion on empathy and how students can organize to participate in the resolution of their own conflicts—rather than the school's administration settling them, which often leads to suspension). Peters then goes on to use specific cases to demonstrate human response to crime or criminality throughout history. There is a timely discussion of the unequal rates of incarceration of African Americans, Latinos, and indigenous peoples in comparison to their white counterparts and the differences in sentencing based on racial bias. The information is provided in manageable segments that will appeal to students looking for an enticing but informative read. Bold and colorful illustrations incorporate quotes from the text, drawing attention to big picture ideas and questions. VERDICT This teen-friendly approach to alternative justice is accessible and engaging. Recommended where there is an interest in social justice issues.—Ellen Norton, Naperville Public Library, IL

Edition details

• Publisher: Annick Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1554518105
• ISBN 13: 9781554518104
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 136