The best book I read this month was written by the newly elected governor of Maryland: Wes Moore. The book came out twelve years ago (in 2010), but I didn’t read it until this month. My boss was so thrilled by Moore’s election victory that she sent every employee a copy. I read it in two days.
In The Other Wes Moore, the author Wes Moore recounts key events in his life and the life of another Wes Moore, one whose life turned out very differently from the author’s. Author Wes Moore learned of the other Wes Moore in an article about a jewelry store robbery, for which the other Moore and his associates were convicted. Moore was sentenced to life in prison. The author Wes Moore wanted to know how two young black men, both born in roughly the same place (the greater Baltimore area) and both raised by single mothers, ended up with such different lives. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that he never really found an answer.
Still, there is a satisfaction in Moore’s exploration. His storytelling is engaging and conversational, and he clearly recognizes turning points where his own life might have changed direction. If there is a lesson to be had in the stories of the two Wes Moore’s, I think it’s that there are no easy answers and that it really does take a village to raise a child.