2026 One Maryland One Book
Reader’s Guide – No Sense in Wishing
Additional Resources
Photo credit: [Baltimore cityscape at night from Federal Hill], by Jack Engeman. Courtesy of the Jack Engeman photographs (Coll118), the Photography Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Other Recommended Resources to Augment No Sense in Wishing
No Sense in Wishing has hundreds of references to music, race, neighborhoods, Baltimore, and art. Below is a list of some of Lawrence Burney’s work, including articles, critiques, and interviews.
Zero Cred Interview: Dan Ozzi and Lawrence Burney
LA Review of Books, “Writing to Liberate Yourself”
Bmore Art: True Laurels: An Interview with Lawrence Burney
Baltimore Magazine: Lawrence Burney’s Debut Book is a Purposefully Unflowery Coming-of-Age Story
NPR: See Baltimore arts through a native son in the new book ‘No Sense in Wishing’
Pitchfork: “Dave: The Boy Who Played the Harp”
GQ: One Simple Trick for Getting Your Teen Daughter to Talk to You
Pitchfork: Let Me Show You How to Bip: Tracing the Origins of Hip-Hop’s Favorite New Word
True Laurels: Chelly The MC Is The District’s Leading Lady
Let Me Show You How to Bip: Tracing the Origins of Hip-Hop’s Favorite New Word
Recommended Reading
(scroll down or click on the buttons)
Recommended Books for Librarians and Teachers
The following books and essays are fruitful companion texts to Lawrence Burney’s No Sense in Wishing.
- A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
- Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith
- The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop by Clover Hope
- 808s & Otherworlds: Memories, Remixes, & Mythologies by Sean Avery Medlin
- Why Solange Matters by Stephanie Phillips
- Chronicling Stankonia by Regina N. Bradley
- Her Word Is Bond: Navigating Hip Hop and Relationships in a Culture of Misogyny by Cristalle “Psalm One” Bowen
- It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him by Justin Tinsley
- Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm by Dan Charnas
- The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop by Jonathan Abrams
- Soul Culture: Black Poets, Books, and Questions that Grew Me Up by Remica Bingham-Risher
- Boyz n the Void: a mixtape to my brother by G’Ra Asim
Suggested Links For Further Research
- True Laurels, Lawrence Burney’s online magazine and media platform.
- Enoch Pratt Free Library’s African American Department: The Eddie and Sylvia Brown African American Department is an in-depth historical, contemporary collection of fiction and nonfiction resources that pertain to the history and culture of African Americans throughout the African Diaspora.
- The Enoch Pratt Free Library’s African American Genealogy page
- Preservation Maryland
- Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Established in 2019, the Commission is authorized to research cases of racially motivated lynchings and hold public meetings and regional hearings where a lynching of an African American by a white mob has been documented.
Reader’s Guide
Every year we work with educators and partners to bring you relevant information to enhance your reading of the One Maryland One Book. Here are some ways you can read along with us.
Read a welcome message from Maryland Humanities staff.
See bios, statements, and learn more about the book’s themes.
Activities in the Teacher’s Guide assist in the practice of these Maryland curricular requirements.
Prompts to guide your conversations about the book.
Activities and curricular guides arranged by subject for interdisciplinary exploration.
A collection of images related to this year’s book selection.
Related reading and other recommended resources to augment the book.
The people and organizations that helped us compile the content and resources of this guide.