The premise felt a little misleading to me. It's based around the idea of two Wes Moore's growing up in Baltimore, one winds up in prison and one gets educated and has a good life. The question posed is why.

But the two men had nothing in common apart from their age and the fact that they were both in Baltimore briefly. One winds up going to private school in New York while living with three parental figures who are all very strict with him, one of which possesses a college diploma. One lives in Baltimore going to public school with a barely present mother. Both of their stories were very interesting, but the only thing tying them together was name. So as a premise, it just didn't work.

3 stars because I did find their stories interesting, though. That carried me through the book with some enjoyment, it just didn't offer the criticism I was expecting. Wouldn't recommend, but I don't think you'll hate this book if you read it. It was fine, although not what I was looking for.