“All That She Carried” and “Freedom Over Me” have been chosen by Indiana Humanities and Indiana Center for the Book for the 2023-2025 One State/One Story statewide reading program. Image provided by Indiana Humanities.

News Release

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Humanities and Indiana Center for the Book announced their selections for the 2023-2025 One State/One Story statewide reading program. “All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake” by Tiya Miles is the high school/adult selection, and “Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life” by Ashley Bryan is the children’s selection. This will be the first cycle to feature two titles.

One State/One Story is a program of Indiana Humanities and this year is part of the organization’s Advancing Racial Equity programming, which supports discussions of history and memory and how engaging with the past can help Hoosiers understand contemporary injustices and strive for racial equity.

“All That She Carried” won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2021 — along with many other awards — and is the account of how a cloth sack found at an outdoor flea market in 2007 was revealed to be an 1850’s artifact of both love and enslavement. Miles traces the sack itself and the three women connected to the sack’s history in this reflection on American history. Ashley’s sack, and the historical work that Miles does, is an example of how the humanities can help others imagine more just futures.

“Freedom Over Me” by Ashley Bryan is an award-winning picture book that grew from an appraisement of property that includes the names and prices of a community of enslaved people. From that document, Bryan infuses life into each individual by pairing poetry and artwork contrasting the list price of a person with the priceless value of life experiences and dreams. The language and artwork will resonate with young children, while the themes and topics will draw older readers into discussions centered around the humanity of all people who have come to live on this land.

“The humanities give us an opportunity to connect with our neighbors about topics like the legacies of slavery and the importance of collecting, researching and learning our shared history,” said Megan Telligman, director of programs at Indiana Humanities. “As with every One State/One Story, our goal is to cultivate discussions that can create more resilient communities and bring Hoosiers together.”

Accompanying One State/One Story is the Community Read program, which offers grants of $750, copies of the book and promotional swag to organizations that have signed up to host a series of three or more programs that explore the themes and ideas of the book selections. Applications are currently being accepted and you can learn more on Indiana Humanities’ website at https://indianahumanities.org/program/one-state-one-story.

Previous One State/One Story selections include “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, “The Year We Left Home” by Jean Thompson and “World of Wonders” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.

As with past statewide reads, there are many ways to get involved with One State/One Story:

• Read a blog post about why “All That She Carried” and “Freedom Over Me” were chosen
• Apply to host a Community Read
• Check out the books for your book club through the Novel Conversations statewide lending library
• Attend a talk arranged through the Advancing Racial Equity Speakers Bureau

To learn more, visit indianahumanities.org and in.gov/library/icb.