The other Wes Moore is a story about two boy’s lives. Two boys who live incredible story .The boys both live the beginning of their lives in the ghetto. They both have non existing fathers and caring mothers. These mothers try anything to keep their boys on the right path. But the Boys also share the same name Wes Moore. They do not know each other, and don’t meet until the end of the book. But the story follows the boys and the decisions they make that give them completely different outcomes in life.

The boys both live in the same dying city. The Bronx. Both of the boys live in extremely poor conditions. Their mothers take care of them because their fathers are gone completely by the age of six. One of the boy’s fathers dies of heart attack, and the other boy’s father is never seen because he abandoned his son. The story follows each of the boys as they grow up and make decisions in life. One of the boys starts his life at a very young age as a drug dealer just trying to follow the footsteps of his brother while the other tries to make his mother proud by making the best grades in his school. One day hoping to get his family out of the poor conditions. These decisions quickly start to impact their lives. One boy is accepted into a military school and the other is accepted into a major gang. Many years later the troublesome Wes Moore is robbing a bank and shoots a cop and mortally wounds him. Leading him to a sentence of life in prison. While the other becomes a Rhodes Scholar and a decorated combat veteran, and a business leader. Why where there outcomes in life so different? Small decisions that change your life.

This book was easily one of my favorite all time books, possibly my favorite. I liked the chilling sad but rewarding story of these boys’ rough lives. I feel I will have a different outlook in life because of this book. I also love the way it was written. The story is written by the Wes Moore. Not the one serving life in prison. He tells the story from both of the boy’s perspectives.

Through the story there were many memorable quotes but one stood out to me? The quote was: “the chilling truth is that his story could have been mine and the tragedy is my story could have been his”. This quote means that the small choices that he they made in their lives determined there fates one becoming a successful adult and the other living life behind bars. The boy’s outcomes in life could have been switched because of these seemingly small choices meaning the now successful Wes Moore could potentially be the one behind bars.

I cannot think of a reason why anyone would not like to read this book. The story is so gripping and twisted. But the fact that it is one hundred percent true makes it even more immersive. I would easily recommend it to anyone. I being a person who dislikes reading found myself obsessed with this books plot and what was going to happen next. It just shows that every choice you make in your life impacts it in a way that you can’t possibly understand. These choices are what separated the Wes Moore’s.