Susan Kuklin (born 1941) is an American photographer and award-winning writer. Kuklin was born and raised in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, then studied theater at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and the Herbert Berghof School. After graduate school at NYU, Kuklin began studying photography.

Career

Her nonfiction works frequently cover controversial topics (e.g., AIDS, poverty, and transgender youth), and often blend photography with writing. ''Beyond Magenta'' has been the center of controversy because some considered it anti-family; it included offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, and political and religious viewpoints; and it was unsuited for age group. Librarians also noted that they wanted to "remove

he book He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

from collection to ward off complaints." According to the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

, it was the 27th most banned and challenged book in the United States between 2010 and 2019. Furthermore, it was one of the top ten most challenged books in 2019 (2) and 2015 (4).

Awards

* ''Dance!'', written with Bill T. Jones, was published September 15, 1998 by Hyperion Books for Children. The book was nominated for the Charlotte Zolotow Award for Highly Commended Title. * ''Iqbal Masih and the Crusaders Against Child Slavery'' was published October 15, 1998 by Henry Holt and Co. and received the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award the same year. * ''No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row'' was published August 5, 2008 by Henry Holt and Co. The book received the following accolades: **

's (ALA) Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2009) ** ALA

Best Books for Young Adults The American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

(2009) ** Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee (2011) ** Florida Teens Read Nominee (2010) ** James Cook Book Award Nominee (2009) * '' Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out'' was published February 11, 2014 by Candlewick Press. The book received the following accolades: ** Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2014 ** Flora Stieglitz Straus Award (2015) ** Stonewall Book Award Nominee for Children’s and Young Adult Literature (2015) ** Young Adult Library Services Association Nonfiction Award Nominee (2015) ** Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee (2017)

Works

* ''Taking My Cat to the Vet'' (1988) * ''Going to My Ballet Class'' (1989) * ''Going to My Nursery School'' (1990) * ''Going to My Gymnastics Class'' (1991) * ''How My Family Lives in America'' (1992) * ''Fighting Fires'' (1993) * ''After a Suicide'' (1994) * ''From Head to Toe'' (1994) * ''Fireworks: The Science, the Art, and the Magic'' (1996) * ''Dance!'', with

Bill T. Jones William Tass Jones, known as Bill T. Jones, (born February 15, 1952) is an American choreographer, director, author and dancer. He is the co-founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Jones is Artistic Director of New York Live Ar ...

(1998) * ''Iqbal Masih and the Crusaders Against Child Slavery'' (1998) * ''The Harlem Nutcracker'', with

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

(2001) * ''Hoops with Swoopes'', illustrated by

Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 20 ...

(2001) * ''Trial: The Inside Story'' (2001) * ''What Do I Do Now?: Talking about Teen Pregnancy'' (2001) * ''From Wall to Wall'' (2002) * ''All Aboard!: A True Train Story'' (2003) * ''Families'' (2006) * ''No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row'' (2008) * ''Beautiful Ballerina'', with Marilyn Nelson (2009) * ''Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out'' (2014) * ''We Are Here to Stay: Voices of Undocumented Young Adults'' (2019) * ''In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuklin, Susan 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women non-fiction writers Living people Writers from Philadelphia New York University alumni 1941 births 21st-century American women writers Photographers from Philadelphia American women photographers 21st-century American photographers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists

Career

Awards

Works

Further reading

References