The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates Decide Now

This is the story of two kids named Wes Moore that lived on the same Baltimore street but never knew each other. One went to college and became a Rhodes Scholar, while the other became a drug dealer and a convict. The first Wes Moore is the author of this book telling, in alternative narratives, the story of their two lives and how they diverged despite some strong similarities.

The book is broken up into four sections dealing with four pivotal times in both Wes Moores' lives. First, we see them when they are three (1982), then eleven (1990), eighteen (1997) and beyond. At three, Both Wes Moore's lost their fathers (the former to natural causes and the latter to absenteeism). At eleven, both boys began having trouble in school owing to apathy. A little later, both would experiment with the drug trade.

That is where the similarities become differences. The former Wes got caught by the cops on his first run and, by all appearences, that blew the drug trade's appeal. Out of his mother's concern and diligence, she sent her Wes to military school during his high-school years. The latter Wes made money from the drug trade and, while caught by his mother, drugs and money proved to be too big a pull. He became a successful dealer and got into all the things that life gives one access to. He had four children by two mothers and multiple arrests by the time he was in his early twenties.

This book, whose message really is that our choices and the choices of those around us make us who we become, has a lengthy appendix - a resource guide. It consists of descriptions and contact info of agencies designed to help 'at risk' youth. The hope is that kids will be able to take the path resembling the former Wes Moore's and that, with good choices and good options, the path of the latter Wes Moore will be avoided.

All in all, I found this book to be much more interesting than I first thought. The stories were both interesting and real (which is a rare combination, as often, real stories tend to be more exciting for the teller than the reader). I finished the book in a day and thought about it for a week. Ironically, I taught at a high-school not far from that "attended" by the second Wes Moore and every day saw instances of kids choosing the former and (all too often) the latter path. By contrasting embodiments of those choices in alternating narratives, this book really gets the reader thinking about the power of choice.

Highly recommended.Get more detail about The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates.