• Early in the book, on pages 6 and 7, Moore talks about conflicting parenting styles. Do you think their is a possibility for perfect parenting? How do you think an ideal parent should and would conduct themselves with their kids?—LK

• The two characters' childhoods have a lot of similarities, one of which is that they grew up with the absence of their fathers. (Chapter 1). How do the ways they lost their fathers affect their choices in life?—KT

• (p.25) How do you think Wes meeting his father affected him in his next few years? Was it better that before he never even knew about him?—KW

• Is Tony's message to "send a message so fierce that they won't have the chance to disrespect you again" a constructive message? Ch 2 pg 33.—RA

• My question comes from the bottom of page 53. The author clearly had trouble fitting in with his peer groups, but seemed to get along well with Justin, who was a positive influence. The other Wes Moore seemed to be shaped more readily by his peers (as evidence by his school-skipping excursion) and his role model was a negative influence. Which do you think impacts people more: peers, parents, or role models?—CD

• In chapter three when the author talks about his life being split in 2, being too rich for the kids in the neighborhood and too poor for the kids at school. Do you guys ever feel that way? Like you have to set yourself up into two "personalities" depending on which group of friends you hangout?—SC

• On p. 61-62 Wes' mother thought he was drinking. Do you think she knew about the weed as well?—SM

• Question: This covers the theme of the book, but do you believe that people are destined to a fate or their choices will determine their fate?—BH

• So far we've seen that both Wes Moore's have strong, hardworking mothers who are willing to do what it takes to give their children a better life and they have family that are willing to help them. They both live in rough neighborhoods where drugs and violence are ways of life and where pushing rock or having a mean jump are one of the few ways out. Based on what we've read so far, what is stopping the author from leading the other Wes Moore's life, or vice versa?—KM