Module 5: No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin

Kuklin, Susan. 2008. No choirboy: Murder, violence, and teenagers on death row. New York: Henry Holt and Co. ISBN-13 978-0-8050-7950-0

Excerpt from the book (in italics):

Mark's (convicted at fourteen of murder): "I deserve to be punished, no doubt about it. But, after you've been in prison for so long, it ceases to be a punishment. It becomes just a way of life" (Kuklin 2008, 78-79).

Susan Kuklin’s nonfiction book No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row features testimonies of convicted teen murderers who are on death row or serving a life sentence, some of the lawyers’ who represent the murderers, and family members of some of the victims. The first three chapters focus on three different convicted teen murderers’ stories of how they ended up in prison, what prison and death row is like, and what they have learned since being in prison, and their narrative is interspersed ever so often with the author Kuklin providing some context with a paragraph or two and voices of the convicted teens’ attorneys. Chapter 4 tells the story of Napoleon Beazly, a teen, who was sentenced to death row for murder and was actually executed in 2002. The chapter presents the testimonies of his surviving mother and brother and the impact this has had on their lives. Chapter 5 tells the story of murder victim William Jenkins and his parents and siblings testimonies about William, their love for him, their grief, and their anti-death penalty stance. The final chapter is Bryan Stevenson’s interview. Stevenson is a top anti-death penalty advocate and lawyer who diligently represents and fights on behalf of convicted teens who have been sentenced to death row and given life sentences. The underlying central theme of the entire book is that the death penalty is wrong and that teen murderers should not be punished with the death penalty or life sentences.

Kuklin’s nonfiction book presents a well-researched book about teen murderers on death row or in prison for life. The book is a mixture of collective mini-biographies and testimonials of the teen murderers with information about their victims and from their lawyers and their families as well as their narrative of what life is really like in prisons. The subject matter of this book will appeal to many young adults because it has bits of sensationalism to it mixed with gritty reality. Also, the text is easy to read. The reader will get a strong sense that the information presented in the story is accurate because Kuklin used real interview transcripts, letter transcripts, and various other factual sources to write her book. The book could also be considered part of the New Journalism genre—not for the creative literary license but more for the fact that the author is presenting the information in order to appeal to readers’ emotions and sway them against the death penalty and induce sympathy for the teenage killers (or alleged killers).

Kuklin did a great job in providing adequate documentation, a glossary, and further reading sources, websites, notes and an index for the readers in order to advance their understanding of the topic. Probably the one fault of the book is that the point-of-view is very one-sided. Kuklin’s book would be better if it had presented various view-points on the issue of teen killings, the death penalty, and life sentences for teens. Instead, author sympathy abounds for the convicted murderers represented in the book and that is conveyed to the reader. On the positive side, Kuklin does make the reader think about societal elements that create teen murderers and the travesty of the prison system and the fact that many times the guards and law appear no better than the prisoners.

This book is recommended for a more mature audience—9^th grade on up. This is a great book for social studies, history classes, or speech and debate classes to read for research, debate and/or discussion. However, it needs to be paired with literature that provides a pro-death penalty stance in order to present a varied and balanced viewpoint on the issue. Prepare for parent challenges if the book is assigned in class because it addresses the topics of murder, violence and homosexual assaults within the prison systems as told by those who have lived that life.

Quotations about the Book from the Literary World:

• School Library Journal, Apr2009 “The haunting and well-researched narratives put a human face on these individuals and take a hard look at the justice system and how we treat young offenders.”
• Kirkus Reviews, 12/1/2008, “Those who believe that criminals are generally malevolent and uneducated will be surprised at their vivid, articulate observations of life in prison and their crimes.”
• School Library Journal, Sep. 2008 “Kuklin depicts the penal system as biased against men of color, and any set of statistics about incarceration and death-row conviction rates will back her up. She also emphasizes that being poor is damning once a crime is committed. … This powerful book should be explored and discussed in high schools all across our country.”
• Kirkus Reviews, 6/15/2008 “This is an excellent read for any student researching the death penalty or with an interest in law and sociology. The author/photographer paints the convicts and their families as neither wholly good nor bad, but human. The convicts themselves speak with a wisdom that can only come from years of negotiating the dangers of prison life, and their stories may change more than one mind regarding what makes a criminal.”

Book Cover Art from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/No-Choirboy-Murder-Violence-Teenagers/dp/0805079505/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290468330&sr=1-1