The One Maryland One Book 2024 theme is “Restorative Futures.” This year’s selection, What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancy, tells the story of an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude that shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster — Richard, an expat and wealthy water-bottling executive with a secret daughter; the daughter, Anne, an architect who drafts affordable housing structures for a global NGO; a small-time drug trafficker, Leopold, who pines for a beautiful call girl; Sonia and her business partner, Dieudonné, who are followed by a man they believe is the vodou spirit of death; Didier, an emigrant musician who drives a taxi in Boston; Sara, a mother haunted by the ghosts of her children in an IDP camp; her husband, Olivier, an accountant forced to abandon the wife he loves; their son, Jonas, who haunts them both; and Ma Lou, the old woman selling produce in the market who remembers them all.

Find What Storm, What Thunder in print and digital formats in the catalog.

OMOB Events

What Storm, What Thunder Discussion & Mini Book Craft
Saturday, September 21, 10 a.m.
Leonardtown Library
Come ready to discuss this year’s selection on making a better world for tomorrow and make a keychain to remember it by.
Register for the book discussion and craft

What Storm, What Thunder Discussion & Journaling
Wednesday, October 9, 5 p.m.
Charlotte Hall Library
Join us to discuss this year’s One Maryland One Book selection, What Storm, What Thunder. We’ll explore the book’s themes and enjoy journaling together, creating fun prompts to inspire creativity!
Register for the book discussion and journaling

Planning for the Unthinkable: Disaster Preparedness
Wednesday, October 16, 6 p.m.
Lexington Park Library
Do you know what to do when a tornado sweeps into your neighborhood or floodwater reaches your doorstep? Join St. Mary’s County Emergency Services Department to learn what can be done now to reduce the impact of disaster later. This workshop will include an interactive educational lecture on how to keep yourself and your loved ones safe in the event of a disaster, a discussion on the area’s unique and most common threats, and the opportunity to create your own disaster supply kit with the essentials: food, water, first-aid, tools, and more!
Register for Planning for the Unthinkable

About One Maryland One Book

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.

One Maryland One Book is a program of Maryland Humanities