About Books - The Other Wes Moore

As you may recall, Peoria participates in the 'one city, one book' initiative promoted by the Library of Congress' Center for the Book. It is sponsored by the Peoria Reads! association and takes place each February. This year's book for Peoria was THE OTHER WES MOORE, by Wes Moore. Since I wrote a post talking about the event, I thought a book review would be in order. 

From the BN.com website: 

Two kids with the same name were born blocks apart in the same decaying city within a year of each other. One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, army officer, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.

In December of 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper ran a huge story about four young men who had killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One of their names was Wes Moore. 

Wes Moore, the Rhodes Scholar, became obsessed with the story of this man he'd never met but who shared much more than space in the same newspaper. 

This memoir was a little different than I expected in that it didn't delve quite as deeply into the childhoods of these two Wes Moores as I thought it might but still, it did an excellent job of highlighting the similarities of their paths. Both young men had troubled childhoods. Both had absent fathers. Both have mothers who love them. Both had trouble with the law in their early years. No parent dreams of the day their child will grow up and be incarcerated. No child is born hoping it will disappoint its parents. But as this book shows, life can get in the way of that. 

Each chapter begins with a bit of dialogue between the two men while they talked in the prison's visitor's room and then is followed by stories of pivotal moments in each of their lives corresponding to that conversation. I appreciated the format. It took you into the prison and then out to their childhood and then back into the prison so you never forgot the impact of the events and choices that determined their futures. 

This is an important read but isn't an enjoyable one. It isn't meant to be. What I believe it is meant to be is a reminder and an example of how vastly different a life can be with even just a minuscule variation in environment. If I were a parent, this book would teach me to take a hard look at the people my child saw as role models, even if the role models are siblings or other family members. Both of these young men had influences outside their mothers' reach and in both cases, destined them for the lives they have today. 

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Comments

[Kellee]

Hmmmmm, this sounds very interesting! I just might have to check that out.

Again, I think it is awesome how Peoria does this. :)