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

Published by Henry Holt, New York NY, 2008

224 pages

Recommended age: 14 and up

VOYA rating: 4P. 3Q

This nonfiction book deals with people on death row or in prison for crimes various violent crimes they committed as teens.  The author tells the stories of several people who were affected by violent crimes.  Her interviews include adults and young adults who were all found guilty for crimes committed while they were still in their teens but who may be in their mid twenties.  The author uses the same language used by the inmates to accurately depict their stories as being told through their own words and through their perspectives.  Some of the interviews were conducted through letters so the author just reprints the letters to show how they tell their own story.

For certain portions of the book she also interviews the family members of some of these inmates including the family members of one inmate who has already been executed.  It is heartbreaking and at time a little hard to read the sad stories about the inmate’s lives and the life of those loved one’s left behind.  You hear several different stories and in some cases, the rulings have been reversed and the death sentence has been changed.  In other cases, the rulings have not been reversed and the inmates are still left on death row.

The author even interviews a few family members of victims who were killed by teens which added an interesting layer to the story.  It really lets the reader into the daily life of a prison inmate and the scary reality of being on death row.  It also would expose teens to legal terminology and might spark further interest in the legal system.

The main theme that seems to be running through the entire book is whether or not teens should be sentenced to death and tried harshly or as adults when they are committing crimes at such a developmentally young age.  Although you get the sense that the author is trying to just present the stories and then let the reader judge for themselves she clearly has only interviewed people who feel strongly against the death penalty, mainly because they are the ones on death row.  It is slightly biased, but it does bring up a very important political debate that affects some teens directly.  Although the teens reading the books might not feel strongly one way or the other about their death penalty, by presenting this issue with real life people who are living this daily and who started AS teens in prison, it hits a bit closer to home.  At times it was a little hard to read the language used because it wasn’t written beautifully and eloquently, but that was the point.  The stories were accurately retold and in doing so, the author did not just sensationalize and use pretty words that would be more poetic or emotionally appealing.  The rawness of the stories and interviews presented make this a very effective nonfiction book for teens.

The cover is striking in black and white because it actually shows one of the real prisoners discussed in the book.  It shows their tattoo.  I think a teen might pick up this book by the cover but I would have liked the story of the tattoo to tie-in somewhere through the course of the book.  Did the tattoo have any special significance?  Why was this particular shot chosen for the cover?  I felt the use of various photos throughout the book were also very effective for the reader in tying a tangible face to the prisoners and victims discussed.  In fiction, it is great to have the words to describe the setting or the character.  In nonfiction however we were dealing with the descriptions on their life and crimes so having the black and white photos to fill in the lack of character description were helpful.  It made things more relatable for both the victims and the prisoners.

I feel like this delves into some serious subject matter and would be better for older teens, ages 14 and up.  I could see some schools or detnetion centers who would prefer we not booktalk this or add it to the collection.  Ultimately in the case of a detention center especially, although the teens might really ENJOY and relate to this book it might be something that the administration would prefer you not explose them to.