The Other Wes Moore

Source: http://chautauquabookstore.ciweb.org/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=881

 

Genre

Biography, Autobiography or Memoir

Citation

Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. New York: Random House Publishing Group, 2010. Print.

Annotation

Two men share the same name and at one time, spent childhood years in the same neighborhood. Neither had a father growing up. Both end up in the newspaper for different reasons- one for becoming a Rhode Scholar and one for murdering a police officer. This coincident propels the author Wes Moore to ask what happened.

Nomination Thoughts

I think this book has the potential to be very thought provoking to a YA audience. The author Wes Moore and the Wes Moore in jail both had barriers in their lives that included grinding poverty, living in drug infested projects, missing fathers, trouble with the law, anger and struggling in school. The author Wes Moore says, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his”. This book is all about why they turned out so different.

The author Wes Moore is not a professional writer and that does show in the eloquence of word flow. Some parts of the book don’t read smoothly. Where he makes up for that lack is in how honest he is in portraying both their lives. The reader is not shielded from the drugs and violence that both experienced. He walks the fine line of nature versus nurture. He does not go all Horatio Alger, and if you just pull harder on your battered boots you can make it. Nor does he claim your family and environment are the end all be all for your destiny. Instead he opens the door to show how they interact. Both of the Wes Moores made critical choices with consequences good and bad. They are smart, young black males who deal with clashing expectations placed on them by culture, family and themselves.

As the author Wes Moore chronicles their lives, YA will have many chances to see how the Wes Moores could have gone either way in terms of jail or Rhode Scholar and imagine the same in their lives. I like how the author is not preachy. He inspires hope and offers paths of redemption for YA who are at critical points in their lives.

This book is a worthy nomination based on how well it speaks to universal issues YA are facing as they grow into adulthood. It respects their ability to ponder worlds other their own and the power to choose the path even as they fight against power structures within society. It's a short quick read perfect for reluctant readers yet deep enough for more advanced readers.