What if everyone read one book at the same time?
When we read a great book, we can’t wait to share the experience and talk about it with others. That’s one of the joys of reading.
In that spirit, Maryland Humanities created One Maryland One Book (OMOB) to bring together diverse people in communities across the state through the shared experience of reading the same book. We invite you to participate in book-centered discussions and related programs at public libraries, high schools, colleges, museums, bookstores, and community and senior centers around the state.
OMOB programs, including an author tour, take place each year in the fall. A calendar of free public events will be available online this summer.
Help us choose the next One Maryland One Book!
Maryland Humanities is thrilled to announce the open call for our 2026 One Maryland One Book! We invite you to submit your choices in accordance with the 2026 theme.
The submission window will close November 21, 2025.
2026 Theme
“Revolution, Reaction, Reform”
Throughout 2026, cultural, historic, and educational workers across the country will be commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This year, Maryland Humanities will join Maryland History Day in the theme “Revolution, Reaction, and Reform.”
This year, we’re seeking books that tell stories of ideas, actions, or events that inspire change – political, historical, economic, and/or social. By revolution, we mean the dramatic change in how something works. By reaction, we mean the experience or response to a situation or event. And by reform, we mean an effort to improve a situation. The three can be intertwined within the same narratives, or a narrative can explore one. They can be small or large in their moment – but have far-reaching impacts throughout time. Think of it as a “domino effect” – how does the story of a single event allow us to better understand how we are impacted across Maryland’s communities?
In the spirit of this theme, we are highly encouraging titles that speak to Maryland’s narratives and/or are written by Maryland-based authors. We hope for 2026’s OMOB to bring our state’s readers in dialogue about what revolution, reaction, and reform look like in their communities.
While the book’s subject matter does not have to take place in Maryland, we encourage titles that link Marylander’s experiences to larger movements for change.
Top Ten
We’re thrilled to announce that our One Maryland One Book committee—a group of volunteers passionate about literature—has selected the Top 10!
- No Sense in Wishing by Lawrence Burney
- Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin
- Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free by Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson
- The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
- Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall
- The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir by Martha S. Jones
- The People’s Project: Poems, Essays, and Art for Looking Forward by Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith (ed)
- Silenced Voices by Pablo Leon
- The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement by Sharon McMahon
- Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne
Links above will take you to our Bookshop.org pages to purchase a copy. A part of our purchase will support Maryland Humanities and all other proceeds go to supporting independent bookselling!
Our Selection Committee will continue reading and reviewing these titles over the next couple of months. Stay tuned to find out which book will be the finalist!
2025 Selection
Kin: Rooted In Hope
by Carole Boston Weatherford
art by Jeffery Boston Weatherford
Maryland Humanities is pleased to announce that the selection for the 2025 One Maryland One Book (OMOB) is Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford with art by Jeffery Boston Weatherford.
Released in 2024, the book is a work of art, history, and personal genealogy – the authors’ search into their family tree led them to ancestors who were among the founders of Maryland.
Get Your Copy
If you’d like to buy a copy of Kin, we recommend using the below links for Bookshop.org! Bookshop.org forwards a portion of each purchase to Maryland Humanities, and we’d greatly appreciate your support!
One Maryland One Book Sponsors and Partners
This flagship program of Maryland Humanities’ Maryland Center for the Book would not be able to reach all 23 Maryland counties and Baltimore City without the continued support of our partners and sponsors. Please join us in thanking them for their generosity!
We are also greatly thankful for the support of Frostburg State University, M&T Bank, Baltimore County Commission on the Arts and Sciences, the Nora Roberts Foundation, and Seekers Church for their support.