International Year of Peace and Trust

In September of 2019, the United Nations adopted a resolution to designate 2021 as the International Year of Peace & Trust. The UN’s resolution “underlined that the International Year constitutes a means of mobilizing international efforts to promote peace and trust among nations on the basis of political dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation in order to build sustainable peace, solidarity and harmony.”

In that spirit, we have created a list of reads that are related to the topics of peace and trust. You’ll find that this diverse list touches on an array of topics and a few are intended for younger audiences, but can be enjoyed by all. Each month we will highlight books from this list in the pages of our Books & Beyond magazine. All of the titles we’ve selected are available for checkout through Orange County Library System.

Also, here and there through the year we’ll have activities and events related to this topic. This month, Valencia College’s Peace & Justice Institute presents several programs in partnership with Orange County Library System.

APEIROGON by Colum Mccann

The first book from our Read to Understand: Peace & Trust booklist we’ll take a look at was published in February 2020. Real-life events planted the seed for Colum McCann’s Apeirogon. The award-winning novel explores the conflict in the Middle East by following the story of two men who have both lost their daughters; both daughters bystanders to violence.

“McCann’s brilliant act of novel-making builds a wholly believable and infinitely faceted reality … a rich and comprehensive context that allows us into the fathers’ experiences, their histories, their minds.” – New York Times