“What’s Mine and Yours” Author Naima Coster to Tour Maryland

August 18, 2022

Maryland Humanities’ Statewide Reading and Discussion Program Marks Fifteen Years

(Baltimore, MD) – Author Naima Coster will visit five counties and Baltimore City to speak about her book, What’s Mine and Yours, which is this year’s One Maryland One Book selection Maryland Humanities kicks off the tour at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore City on Sunday, October 2 at 4:00 p.m. Following the first stop, Coster will travel to Allegany, Frederick, Charles, Howard, and Wicomico counties. Coster will sign copies of her book at all tour events, which are free. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

 What’s Mine and Yours is a multigenerational saga featuring two North Carolina families. They collide in ways that neither is prepared for when Black students from the east side of the county are integrated into the predominantly white schools on the west side. Readers will follow these families over decades as they break apart and come back together. Parade called the novel “an intimate portrait of love, motherhood, class and race.”

What’s Mine and Yours was chosen by a committee of librarians, educators, authors, and bibliophiles from nearly 300 titles suggested last fall by readers across the state for the theme, “New Beginnings.”

“With What’s Mine and Yours, Naima Coster explores familial relationships with a clear sense of the world around her and the moment we live in,” says Lindsey Baker, Executive Director at Maryland Humanities. “The novel is riveting and thought-provoking, inviting readers into the lives of her complex, layered characters. I’m excited to hear and take part in conversations about this great book.”

Coster says, “I am thrilled that What’s Mine and Yours has been selected for One Maryland One Book 2022. My book is about characters who must remake their lives—and whose lives are remade—after tragedy, opportunity, love lost and gained. It’s a story that takes seriously both the difficulty and promise of ‘new beginnings’ as it follows two families whose paths intersect and diverge over twenty years,” she says. “I am honored that the book will find readers across the state of Maryland this year and that I will be able to join in the conversation. Thank you!”

2022 One Maryland One Book Author Tour

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture
Sunday, October 2
4:00 p.m.
830 East Pratt Street, Baltimore 

Frostburg State University‘s Center for Literary Arts
Monday, October 3
11:00 a.m.
101 Braddock Road, Frostburg

Frederick Community College’s Jack B. Kussmaul Theater
Monday, October 3
7:00 p.m.
7932 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick

College of Southern Maryland‘s Fine Arts Center
Tuesday, October 4
11:00 a.m.
8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata

Howard County Library System‘s Miller Branch
Tuesday, October 4
7:00 p.m.
9421 Frederick Road, Ellicott City

Salisbury University‘s Guerrieri Academic Commons
Wednesday, October 5
1:00 p.m.
1101 Camden Avenue, Salisbury

The book cover to “What’s Mine and Yours: A Novel” by Naima Coster. It has silhouettes of two women—one in reds, a white character, and the other in blues, a Black character. The first wears straight her hair down. The second wears it back. Text says: “’Coster balances the tender and the sharp moments shared between families better than anyone else writing’— Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award Winner.” Text says “The ‘New York Times’ bestseller.”About the Book
What’s Mine and Yours is a multigenerational saga featuring two North Carolina families who connect in ways that neither is prepared for. Jade is determined to protect her son, Gee, as he finds his way as an anxious, sensitive, young Black man. Lacey May refuses to see her half-Colombian daughters—Noelle, Margarita, and Diane—as anything other than white. Events reach a boiling point when an initiative is set in motion to bring Black students from the east side of the county to the predominantly white schools on the west side.

Naima Coster, an Afro-Latina woman with black curly hair down to about her chin. She smiles and wears a short sleeved, black shirt, a silver star, and small stud earrings. (The photo is to about her waist.)She stands with her arms crossed, not unfriendly, in front of a colorful mural.

About the Author
Naima Coster is the author of two novels, What’s Mine and Yours, an instant New York Times bestseller, and her debut, Halsey Street, which was a finalist for the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction. Naima’s stories and essays have appeared in Elle, Time, Kweli, The New York Times, The Cut, The Sunday Times, Catapult, and elsewhere. In 2020, she received the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 honor.

Naima has taught writing for over a decade in community settings, youth programs, and universities. She currently teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Antioch University in Los Angeles. She occasionally writes the newsletter, Bloom How You Must. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

A logo that says "BookCrossing.com" on the bottom. The logo is a cartoon, sort-of anthropomorphic book with stick legs and arms, and circles as hands and feet. It is walking to the left.Wandering Books: Where will you find What’s Mine and Yours?
Copies of the 2022 One Maryland One Book selection will be dropped off in public spaces in three counties beginning in mid-August as part of “Wandering Books,” a fun campaign that introduces readers to What’s Mine and Yours and the One Maryland One Book program. Anyone can receive clues about where to find books via Maryland Humanities’ Maryland Center for the Book Facebook page or by following @MDHumanities on Twitter. This year, libraries in will distribute books throughout their communities. After finding a copy of What’s Mine and Yours, readers log on to www.bookcrossing.com and register their book’s ID number, post a comment or review when they’ve finished reading, then leave the book somewhere public for another reader to find and enjoy. Instructions are located on a label inside the book cover. Participation is free. Those who register books will be automatically entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Bookshop.org after the campaign ends on November 15 and must include their name and email to be eligible. 

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, through our Maryland Center for the Book program, 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 readers 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—including the Author Tour—will be available online beginning this summer.

Press Release