Imagine if everyone in Maryland read the same book at the same time…
While reading is often a solitary pursuit, what kinds of conversations could we have if people were reading the same book—on the train to work, on the beach, in a classroom, during their lunch break, or for a book club—and with whom could we connect or reconnect in our communities?
Thoreau said, “How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.” Sharing the life-changing ideas you find in a great book with your co-workers, fellow students, friends, family, and neighbors is the essence of the Maryland Humanities Council’s One Maryland One Book Program.
Join in Maryland’s only statewide community reading program! Pick up a copy of this year’s selected book, Song Yet Sung by James McBride, to read this summer (you may know McBride’s best-selling memoir, The Color of Water). Then look for book discussions and related programs at your local public library and other locations around the state in September and October, so you can share your thoughts about this provocative book and listen to what others have to say about it.
Set on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the 1850s, Song Yet Sung weaves an intricate and gripping tale of escaped slaves, free blacks, and slave-catchers. The book centers on The Dreamer, an enslaved woman whose gift for visions of the future quickly reaches mythic proportions following her escape from a local plantation.
The Maryland Humanities Council will host a tour by Song Yet Sung author James McBride this fall. McBride will speak at eight venues across the state—from the Baltimore Book Festival on September 27 to Dorchester County, where the novel is set, on October 28. Click here for event information.
Our more than 70 community partners will host free public programs related to the theme and topics of Song Yet Sung statewide. Community partners are as diverse as The Red Canoe Children’s Bookstore in Baltimore to the Maryland Correctional Library System. Private book clubs and informal groups are encouraged to participate also. Join us!
Its a pleasure reading this article on the theme and topic of the book “Song yet Sung”.
Will you be kind enough telling me how I could get a copy of that book by James McBride?
Best Regards,
Charles Mulimba Ruyembe,
The National Arts Council of Tanzania,
Cultural Centre Ilala Bungoni.
Sharif Shamba area,
c/o P.O. BOX 5772,
Dar-Es-Salaam.
Tanzania.
East Africa.
What an absolutely splendid idea!!! I plan to participate and encourage my co-workers at Baltimore City Head Start. Thanks
What a neat idea. I hope I can get to the Elkton library before too many other people in Elkton see this cool idea.
Thank you so much for the suggestion to read this book! I could not put it down. I love the way it gets into the minds of all involved, and I personally feel that it shows why it has been so difficult for both whites and African-Americans to move beyond racism (I’m white). I am in awe of the “Code” system and how it helped so many to survive an impossible situation. I suspect that there were “codes” all over the South, and even the north. Days after finishing the book, I am still turning it over in my mind. Powerful!
A good idea but I am not in favor of filling up maryland public libraries with hundreds of copies of the same book. Times are tough and it is difficult to do research in any maryland public library because the books arent there partially a result of purchasing far too many best sellers and books for entertainment. Nothing wrong with reading but we who research and write and publish need a few resources too. Despite the importance of the book- two volumes- my recent publication concerning John Charles Linthicum and his wife Helen has not been purchased by a single library. http://mysite.verizon.net/cbladey/jcharleslinthicum/book/JandHorder.html
but somehow with their tight budgets local libraries are purchasing hundreds of works for entertainment. One thought would be to select a book that is available free entirely on line. People could still read and share it would just not cost the library systems as much.
Conrad
Cool review, Just bought the book!