Description:

Montaigne Medal Finalist - 2022
In a time that looms around the corner of today, in a place on the edge of our nation, it is a crime to dissent, a crime to assemble, a crime to stand up for one's life. Despite all this - or perhaps because of it - the Dandelion Insurrection appears…

Under a gathering storm of tyranny, Zadie Byrd Gray whirls into the life of Charlie Rider and asks him to become the voice of the Dandelion Insurrection. With the rallying cry of life, liberty, and love , Zadie and Charlie fly across America leaving a wake of revolution in their path. Passion erupts. Danger abounds. The lives of millions hang by a thread. The golden soul of humanity blossoms…and wonders start to unfold!

Author Rivera Sun creates mythic characters from everyday people. She infuses the story of our times with practical solutions and visionary perspectives , drawing the reader into a world both terrifying and inspiring… a world that can be our own!

Reviewers have enthusiastically called The Dandelion Insurrection.. .”The handbook of the coming revolution”. Part fact, part fiction and part prophecy, you will enjoy The Dandelion Insurrection.

From the reviewers:

“Close your eyes and imagine the force of the people and the power of love overcoming the force of greed and the love of power. Then read The Dandelion Insurrection. In a world where despair has deep roots, The Dandelion Insurrection bursts forth with joyful abandon.” -- Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink
“I love this book! It beautifully captures the revolution of love that is sweeping the globe, told as an epic novel that will set your heart on fire. A rare gem of a book, a must read, it charts the way forward in this time of turmoil and transformation,…you will love The Dandelion Insurrection !” -- Velcrow Ripper, Canadian Academy Award (Genie) winner, director of Occupy Love
“This novel will not only make you want to change the world, it will remind you that you can.” -- Gayle Brandeis, author of The Book of Dead Birds , winner of the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction
“THE handbook for the coming revolution!” -- Lo Daniels, Editor of Dandelion Salad
“ The Dandelion Insurrection is an updated, more accurate, less fantastical Brave New World or 1984.” -- David Swanson, journalist, author, peace activist
“The Dandelion Insurrection is a prayer seven billion hearts strong and counting.” -- Megan Hollingsworth, Founder of Extinction Witness
“Rivera Sun's The Dandelion Insurrection takes place in a dystopia just a hop, skip and jump away from today's society. A fundamentally political book with vivid characters and heart stopping action. It's a must and a great read.” -- Judy Rebick, activist and author of Occupy This!
“…a beautifully written book just like the dandelion plant itself, punching holes through the concert of corporate terror, and inviting all to join in the insurrection.” -- Keith McHenry, co-founder of the Food Not Bombs Movement

Review

From the reviewers:
"Close your eyes and imagine the force of the people and the power of love overcoming the force of greed and the love of power. Then read The Dandelion Insurrection. In a world where despair has deep roots, The Dandelion Insurrection bursts forth with joyful abandon." -- Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink
"I love this book! It beautifully captures the revolution of love that is sweeping the globe, told as an epic novel that will set your heart on fire. A rare gem of a book, a must read, it charts the way forward in this time of turmoil and transformation. If you loved Occupy Love, you will love the Dandelion Insurrection!" -- Velcrow Ripper, Canadian Academy Award (Genie) winner, director of Occupy Love
"This novel will not only make you want to change the world, it will remind you that you can." -- Gayle Brandeis, author of The Book of Dead Birds, winner of the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction
"THE handbook for the coming revolution!" -- Lo Daniels, Editor of Dandelion Salad
"The Dandelion Insurrection is an updated, more accurate, less fantastical Brave New World or 1984." -- David Swanson, journalist, author, peace activist
"The Dandelion Insurrection is a prayer seven billion hearts strong and counting." -- Megan Hollingsworth, Founder of Extinction Witness
"Rivera Sun's The Dandelion Insurrection takes place in a dystopia just a hop, skip and jump away from today's society. A fundamentally political book with vivid characters and heart stopping action. It's a must and a great read." -- Judy Rebick, activist and author of Occupy This!
". . . a beautifully written book just like the dandelion plant itself, punching holes through the concert of corporate terror, and inviting all to join in the insurrection." -- Keith McHenry, co-founder of the Food Not Bombs Movement
"The Dandelion Insurrection is meant to be more than a story. Its aim is inspirational. It teaches and it preaches. Its message is nonviolence and love and action: "Its motto... Be kind. Be connected. Be unafraid."...The writing is poetic and filled with imagery. ...sometimes exuberant, sometimes funny. ...Inspirational and educational...a thoroughly entertaining, absorbing and intriguing read, that kept me turning pages with great eagerness until the very end of the story."---- Casey Dorman, Editor, The Lost Coast Journal

" The Dandelion Insurrection... Get it. Give it. Lift it, hold it, blow its seeds to the winds of your social surroundings and allow the knowledge to ride wherever, to sprout all around us." "...rivals Kingsolver in her command over poetic use of figures of speech, action verbs, storyline coherence, and surpasses so many others..." "A tale that could well be quite real, based on the sort of Atwoodian extrapolative fiction and then the application of proven strategic nonviolent elements parachuted into a dystopian world ripe for either fatalistic surrender or go-for-broke unarmed revolution."
"Can nonviolence save the US? Can we ever imagine that brown, black, white, red Americans could band together and end the slide into a corporatacracy of violence and destructive extraction?
Hint: Yes, and this story is the first realistic version. Sun uses the knowledge generated by the Civil Rights Movement, Gandhian actions, the Serb revolution, Cesar Chavez, Arab Spring, Serpaj, the colored revolutions, Gene Sharp, Stephen Zunes, Hardy Merriman, Jack DuVall, Maria Stephan, and Erica Chenoweth without every once straying into pedantic hortatory .---- Tom H. Hastings, Ed.D., Director, PeaceVoice Program, Oregon Peace Institute

From the Author

Many social, economic and environmental justice and literature classes and independent reading and political action study groups use my novels, articles and study guides to strategic nonviolent action.

I am thrilled to speak with your groups by video-conference or on-site, in workshops or speaking events. Please contact me through my website... riverasun.com.

From the Inside Flap

From the reviewers:
"Close your eyes and imagine the force of the people and the power of love overcoming the force of greed and the love of power. Then read The Dandelion Insurrection. In a world where despair has deep roots, The Dandelion Insurrection bursts forth with joyful abandon." -- Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink
"I love this book! It beautifully captures the revolution of love that is sweeping the globe, told as an epic novel that will set your heart on fire. A rare gem of a book, a must read, it charts the way forward in this time of turmoil and transformation. If you loved Occupy Love, you will love the Dandelion Insurrection!" -- Velcrow Ripper, Canadian Academy Award (Genie) winner, director of Occupy Love
"This novel will not only make you want to change the world, it will remind you that you can." -- Gayle Brandeis, author of The Book of Dead Birds, winner of the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction
"THE handbook for the coming revolution!" -- Lo Daniels, Editor of Dandelion Salad
"The Dandelion Insurrection is an updated, more accurate, less fantastical Brave New World or 1984." -- David Swanson, journalist, author, peace activist
"The Dandelion Insurrection is a prayer seven billion hearts strong and counting." -- Megan Hollingsworth, Founder of Extinction Witness
"Rivera Sun's The Dandelion Insurrection takes place in a dystopia just a hop, skip and jump away from today's society. A fundamentally political book with vivid characters and heart stopping action. It's a must and a great read." -- Judy Rebick, activist and author of Occupy This!
". . . a beautifully written book just like the dandelion plant itself, punching holes through the concert of corporate terror, and inviting all to join in the insurrection." -- Keith McHenry, co-founder of the Food Not Bombs Movement

About the Author

Rivera Sun lives in an earthship in the high desert of New Mexico. She gets up before dawn (and the lizards) and starts her day by drinking pu'erh tea and baking bread in her outdoor adobe clay oven. Rivera has written eight theatrical plays, published four novels, a study guide to strategic nonviolent direct action and two books of inspirational poetry. She has also written/performed many dance theater productions. Her work has received standing ovations from coast to coast and touched the hearts and souls of many.Rivera believes in being an embodiment of love-in-action in all that she does. A passionate participant in creating a just, sustainable, and peaceful world, she takes the responsibility of life seriously . . . and with a good dose of humor. Her novels focus on the social issues of our times, positing creative solutions as well as muckraking through the causes of suffering."Life is the ultimate adventure!" Rivera says.Indeed, for Rivera Sun, it has been a non-stop wild ride from birth onward. She is a twin, grew up on an organic farm on the Canadian border of Maine, attended Bennington College in Vermont, headed to the west coast to pursue dance and theater, toured nationally with her theater shows. Now from her base in New Mexico Rivera consults, speaks, and does workshops on writing and the use of strategic nonviolent action as an instrument of change. Rivera is easy to connect with on Facebook and Twitter, or through the RiveraSun.com website. She encourages her readers to reach out, write reviews, and share their favorite quotes with others.