One Maryland One Book Selection For 2025 Announced

Maryland Humanities has picked “Kin: Rooted in Hope” by Carole Boston Weatherford as the 2025 One Maryland One Book selection. The poetry collection from the Maryland author includes art by Jeffery Boston Weatherford.

A combination of history, art and personal genealogy depicts the author’s search for her family tree, which leads her to ancestors who were some of Maryland’s founders. Through art and poetic voice, Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford impart their family’s lives and offer a view into Maryland’s African American history.

“‘Kin: Rooted in Hope’ is a family affair, a mother-son collaboration on a family saga dating back to colonial Maryland,” Carole Boston Weatherford said. “‘Kin’ conjures the past, reclaims lost ancestral narratives, and brings us to the realization that knowing your history is generational wealth.

“As a Marylander, I am so proud that ‘Kin’s’ selection as the 2025 One Maryland One Book will further amplify our ancestors’ voices,” she continued. “Their story of bondage and freedom — a history shared by many African Americans — is the American story.”

The collection weaves the personas of the Weatherfords’ ancestors, from experiences on the Wye House plantation in Talbot County through the Civil War and into the 20th century. Maryland locations feature prominently in the book, many the subject of their own poems, including the Chesapeake Bay, the port of Oxford, Fort McHenry and the Wye River, where the Wye House plantation sits.

“Kin: Rooted in Hope” is a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner. A selection committee consisting of Maryland teachers, scholars, librarians, writers, booksellers and community workers chose the book for One Maryland One Book under the theme of “What We Collect/What We Tell.”

Maryland Humanities looks forward to staging programming that invites readers to explore histories of African Americans, of Maryland, and their families. Maryland Humanities will announce its 2025 author tour details this summer. A calendar of free public events, including the annual author tour and VIP reception, will be available online. To keep up with this year’s One Maryland One Book, follow @mdhumanites on all social media platforms, sign up for the literature enewsletter, or with a monthly donation, become a Humanities Hero and receive special OMOB perks.

"I couldn’t be more excited about ‘Kin: Rooted in Hope’ as our 2025 One Maryland One Book pick,” said Lindsey Baker, CEO of Maryland Humanities. “This book does exactly what our theme asks of us — it pieces together history, memory, and loss to reclaim stories that deserve to be told. Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Boston Weatherford don’t just bring the past to life; they remind us why it matters today. With deep Maryland roots, ‘Kin’ is a powerful, moving, and necessary read, and I can’t wait for people across the state to experience it."

Carole Boston Weatherford recently received the 2025 Children's Literature Legacy Award from the American Library Association. She holds a Newbery Honor and Nonfiction Award from the Children’s Book Guild.

One Maryland One Book is a program of Maryland Center for the Book at Maryland Humanities, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities and Howard County Library System. One Maryland One Book 2024 is sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services via the Maryland State Library Agency, and other funders that may be announced later.