The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
Original ISBN 978-0-385-52819-1
Spiegel & Grau, 2010
256 pages

Plot Summary: In December of 2000, Moore read an article in his hometown newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, about his overcoming his rough childhood to becoming a Rhodes Scholar. In the same paper, Moore read about a notorious attempted robbery/murder case. One of the perpetrators names was Wes Moore. The similar upbringings alarmed Moore for he realized that a life in prison could very well have been his fate. The two Wes Moores began communicating with his other. The book is born from their correspondence and tells the life tale of both Wes Moores – from birth, growing up in a tough neighborhood
without a father, to present day.

Critical Evaluation: The Other Wes Moore is a nonfiction book that is told in both first-person and third-person points of view. The story is told sequentially and alternatingly from the vantage point of both Wes Moores. This approach to the story allows the reader to easily see how both boys were on similar paths, and then when they diverged. The tone is not one of judgment one way or the other. As Moore says in the book’s introduction, “This book will use our two lives as a way of thinking about choices and accountability, not just for each of us as individuals but for all of us as a society” (p. xiv).

Reader’s Annotation: Two boys sharing one name grow up in the same tough neighborhood. They appear to have the same destiny, but one becomes a Rhodes Scholar while the other becomes a prison inmate. 

Author Information: Moore is an American writer born in 1978. Moore grew up fatherless in tough neighborhoods in Baltimore and Brooklyn. As an early teen, Moore had difficulty in school and with the law before his mother sent him away to a Pennsylvania military school. After Moore’s failed attempts to leave, he started to take school seriously and ended up graduating from John Hopkins University and Oxford University after being named a Rhodes Scholar in 2000. Moore served in the Army in Afghanistan, earned a White House Fellowship, and became a well-respected leader in business. He is a strong advocate for veterans and teens. He currently hosts Beyond Belief, a show that depicts stories of the unexplained on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

The Other Wes Moore debuted at Number 5 on the New York Times Best Seller List. It was the 2011 winner of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award and was nominated for the 2011 Alex Award which is given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.

An adaptation for younger children was published September, 2012.

His website can be found at http://theotherwesmoore.com/

Genre: Nonfiction; Memoir

Curriculum Ties: Families and relationships; Youths and Violence; Race relations; Overcoming odds

Booktalking Ideas: In addition to expanding upon the Reader’s Annotation, I would use the trailer video that introduces the author to the readers. http://www.youtube.com//watch_popup?v=udQWOfALwj4

Reading Level / Interest Age: Grades 8 and up

Lexile: 990

Challenge Issues: There could be challenge issues due to the mild violence and drug references mentioned in the book. The defense of any book begins with being familiar with the text and finding positive professional reviews, and noting any awards given to the book.

Reason for Item’s Inclusion: This book was used as the “One Book, One Bakersfield” selection for 2011. It is a very powerful and inspirational story.

Resources:


NoveList Plus. (2012). Retrieved from Persistent URL
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=neh&tg=UI&an=349758&site=novp-live