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nickscoby's review against another edition
4.0
Much like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Led Zeppelin, I had heard very good things about this text but somehow managed to side step it. What I heard was cursory, i.e., this is the true story of two black youth with the same name who grew up roughly in the same neighborhood but who had very different fates. Yes, that is the premise, but the telling is so much more complicated than that. Much credit goes to the author who decides to only focus on key moments in these lives, rather than a straight forward memoir. ("This is what happened in sixth grade, and then seventh grade. . . ") The consequence is that there are gaps in the narrative--some of them frustrating--but they force the reader to pay closer attention to the themes of each section. Also, kudos to the author for telling a complicated narrative. This easily could be a pull yourself up by your bootstraps that Fox News could trumpet all day. Thankfully, Moore is too smart for that. I could easily see this guy running for president some day. (This text, along with Fruitvale Station, should be required reading and viewing for many African American youth)
rachelfoote's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
drdreuh's review
4.5
(4.5) A really exceptional and unique memoire that's more than a memoire. Wes Moore (now govenor of Maryland) takes a weird life quirk - a young man his same age and same city with the same name - and uses it to explore how 2 people with such similar circumstances can wind up with vastly different outcomes. In less thoughtful hands, the story could have wound up horribly oversimplified and overdetermined.
kups's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0