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What Storm, What Thunder Discussion & Mini Book Craft

A One Maryland One Book Program

Each year, thousands of Marylanders come together to read the same book. Come ready to discuss this year's selection on making a better world for tomorrow and make a keychain to remember it by.

This year's One Maryland One Book selection, chosen by Maryland Humanities for the theme of "restorative futures," is What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancy.

At the end of a long, sweltering day, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. 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.

Brilliantly crafted, fiercely imagined, and deeply haunting, What Storm, What Thunder is a singular, stunning record, a reckoning of the heartbreaking trauma of disaster, and—at the same time—an unforgettable testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit.

You can find a physical copy of the book in our catalog or download a digital copy on Libby. Come ready to discuss the book and its themes with other community members from various backgrounds. During the discussion, we will make a miniature book keychain to commemorate your participation in this year's One Maryland One Book program and serve as a reminder to do what you can to help others and better our community and the world.

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