No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row

Content Warning: This section contains references to violence, sexual assault, drug abuse, and racism.

Kuklin is a photographer and nonfiction author. Her writing deals primarily with teenagers, particularly those in crisis or who exist on the margins of society, such as transgender teens, undocumented youths, pregnant teenagers, children enslaved in foreign countries, and young people in detention. She began her career in photography after receiving a Leica from her husband as a wedding gift; for two years, she trekked through the Appalachians, following in the footsteps of her heroes Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, photographing impoverished families. The stark landscapes and ramshackle communities of Appalachia (which seemed to her “frozen in time”) awoke an interest in what she saw as the vitality and poignancy of a forgotten America (Kuklin, Susan. “About.” Susan Kuklin: Author and Photographer). Much of her writing serves the same function for the reader, unveiling hidden or ignored worlds.

Kuklin got the idea for No Choirboy while attending a panel discussion about the death penalty that featured lawyer and activist Stevenson; inspired by his arguments and his passion, she resolved to write a book about capital punishment. Auditing one of Stevenson’s seminars, she learned that Alabama and Texas held the dubious distinction of leading the nation in sentencing the most juvenile offenders sentenced to death.