We are excited to announce—albeit belatedly—the publication of The Secret World of Terijian by CrimethInc. North Star. The Secret World of Terijian is a heartwarming children’s story about the defense of the wilderness from profit-driven development. Written, edited, and designed at standards comparable to other CrimethInc. books, it is a benefit project to raise funds for environmental activists targeted by the government repression known as the Green Scare.
cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2007/11/01/terijian.jpg
A teaser for the story ran in the fourth issue of Rolling Thunder, but the full book offers a much more complete and exciting plotline, following protagonists Connor and Moriko from their first meeting as suburban playmates to the triumphant denouement in which they earn their salt as eco-defenders. The book can be read as an allegorical retelling of the true story of the Minnehaha Free State, a years-long land occupation and environmental defense campaign that took place in the publishers’ home state of Minnesota.
The Secret World of Terijian has been warmly received in the quarterly paper Slingshot, which calls it “an enlightening look at just how the destruction of the earth’s natural habitat effects everyone, from six year old adventurers to thirty-six-year-old construction workers, from birds to elves and fairies” and suggests that “it shows just how much can be accomplished when you stand up and fight for what you believe in, no matter how insignificant you may think you are or how scared you are in the beginning.” Green Scare defendant advocate Will Potter describes it as “Bridge to Terabithia, but with balaclavas.”
The book has also received accolades from unexpected quarters. In the well-known review, GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR AMENDED JUDGMENT, widely renowned literary critic and US Attorney Karin J. Immergut and/or her dashing assistant Kirk A. Engdall praise it with the sort of glowing terms more cool-headed environmental activists reserve for adult literature:
The story line of this children’s book romanticizes the criminal activities of the Earth Liberation Front and encourages children to become involved in similar criminal conduct.
…that is to say, the book affirms what every child knows, and only the most heartless and self-deluding of adults are able to willfully forget: living forests are more valuable than corporate property rights, and one’s conscience is a more worthy guide than the arbitrary laws of the capitalist state.
The Secret World of Terijian is a benefit for all targets of the Green Scare; all proceeds after production costs go directly to earth and animal liberation prisoners and defendants. The book is $6 postage paid from:
CrimethInc. NorthStar PO Box 40338 St. Paul, MN 55104
Update: See also, the zine version.
cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2007/11/01/BookBackCover.jpg
cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2007/11/01/BookCover1.jpg
cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2007/11/01/BookInside1.jpg
