Susan Kuklin (born 1941) is an American photographer and award-winning writer.
Kuklin was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then studied theater at New York University and the Herbert Berghof School.[1] 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 [the book] from collection to ward off complaints."[2] According to the American Library Association, it was the 27th most banned and challenged book in the United States between 2010 and 2019.[3] Furthermore, it was one of the top ten most challenged books in 2019 (2) and 2015 (4).[2]
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:
