SEPTEMBER 2013 - AudioFile
Wes Moore recognizes that the decisions of a boy in a poor urban neighborhood had life-changing effects. Moore grew up in the Bronx with a single mother who was determined to protect him. Lousy grades and a run-in with the law convinced his mother to borrow the money to send him to military school. It saved him—Moore became a military officer, a graduate of Johns Hopkins, and a Rhodes Scholar. By contrast, another man of the same name, from a similar background, is in prison for life for felony murder. Moore narrates his story with some occasional over-dramatization, but overall he delivers a heartfelt performance filled with gratitude. This production is an adaptation of his bestseller, THE OTHER WES MOORE, for young adult listeners. A.B. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
Moore adapts his bestselling adult title, The Other Wes Moore, for teens in this thought-provoking and personal narrative about two men with the same name. Moore begins with his own story, which starts in Baltimore and moves to the crack-infested Bronx, military school, Johns Hopkins, and a Rhodes Scholarship. The second part of the book tells the other Wes Moore's journey, which also begins in Baltimore but leads to drug dealing, brushes with the police, and a life sentence for murder. Anecdotes from Moore's early years convey his struggle to form an identitywithin his violent and impoverished surroundings; his love for his family and his core optimism shine through even the darkest moments he recounts. The story concludes with Moore's questions and ruminations about how, regardless of limitations and societal expectations, the decisions an individual makes determine who he or she will become. Moore wisely opens the door for teens to contemplate their own answers and beliefs, while laying out his own experiences honestly and openly. Ages 12–up. Agent: Linda Loewenthal, David Black Literary. (Sept.)
SEPTEMBER 2013 - AudioFile
Wes Moore recognizes that the decisions of a boy in a poor urban neighborhood had life-changing effects. Moore grew up in the Bronx with a single mother who was determined to protect him. Lousy grades and a run-in with the law convinced his mother to borrow the money to send him to military school. It saved him—Moore became a military officer, a graduate of Johns Hopkins, and a Rhodes Scholar. By contrast, another man of the same name, from a similar background, is in prison for life for felony murder. Moore narrates his story with some occasional over-dramatization, but overall he delivers a heartfelt performance filled with gratitude. This production is an adaptation of his bestseller, THE OTHER WES MOORE, for young adult listeners. A.B. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
This story, an adaptation for young people of the adult memoir The Other Wes Moore (2008), explores the lives of two young African-American men who share the same name and grew up impoverished on the same inner-city streets but wound up taking completely different paths. Author Moore grew up with a devoted mother and extended family. After receiving poor grades and falling in with a bad crowd, his family pooled their limited finances to send him to Valley Forge Military Academy, where he found positive role models and became a Corps commander and star athlete. After earning an undergraduate degree, Wes attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. When the author read about the conviction of another Wes Moore for armed robbery and killing a police officer, he wanted to find out how two youths growing up at the same time in the same place could take such divergent paths. The author learns that the other Wes never had the extensive family support, the influential mentors or the lucky breaks he enjoyed. Unfortunately, the other Wes Moore is not introduced until over two-thirds of the way through the narrative. The story of the other Wes is heavily truncated and rushed, as is the author's conclusion, in which he argues earnestly and convincingly that young people can overcome the obstacles in their lives when they make the right choices and accept the support of caring adults. Though awkward, this adaptation still makes for a hopeful and inspiring story. (Memoir. 12 & up)
