63 pages • 2 hours read
Wes MooreThe Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
Teacher Introduction
The Other Wes Moore
- Genre: Nonfiction; biography; social issues
- Originally Published: 2010
- Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 990L; grades 8-12; college/adult
- Structure/Length: Organized into several chapters that alternate between the author’s autobiography and the biography of the other Wes Moore; approximately 250 pages; audiobook length approximately 6 hours, 12 minutes
- Central Concern: The Other Wes Moore explores the true story of two individuals with the same name, born just blocks apart in the same city. One Wes Moore became a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House Fellow, and noted business leader. The other Wes Moore ended up serving a life sentence for felony murder. Through their parallel stories, the author examines the complex interplay of individual agency and environmental factors in the paths that young people take.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Discussions of crime, poverty, drug use, and violence; exploration of systemic social and economic challenges; incarceration and its impacts
Wes Moore, Author
- Bio: Born 1978; American author, social entrepreneur, television producer, and decorated US Army officer; former CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation; Rhodes Scholar; advocate for youth and social justice; first Black governor of Maryland
- Other Works: The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters (2015); This Way Home (2015); Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City (2020)
