(2) YA Hewing to a definition of refugees as "people who are forced to leave their country because they are being persecuted," Kuklin profiles five such young adults: Fraidoon/Fred from Afghanistan; Hei Blut/Nathan from Myanmar; Nyarout from South Sudan; Shireen from Iraq; and Dieudonné from Burundi. Their common bond is Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, "one of the most successful resettlement programs in the country," which sponsored or cared for each of these intrepid survivors. While each lengthy profile--told in the first person and illustrated with Kuklin's full-color photographs--covers the expanse of each subject's story, Kuklin chooses one or another stage of the journey to highlight, from the red tape Fraidoon encountered despite his work as a translator for the American forces fighting the Taliban, to the slavery endured by Shireen, a Yazidi, at the hands of ISIS. The circumstances of all five refugees were perilous and frightening; their tenacity and courage (and even humor) are salutary. An exemplary appendix of notes and resources broadens the impact of the individual accounts; the accounts themselves personalize the crisis and statistics. Index not seen.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) YA The Trump administration's 2017 repeal of DACA put photojournalist Kuklin and this work-in-progress in an awkward place: would she be exposing her nine interviewees, undocumented all, to possible arrest and deportation? The book was postponed, photographs of the subjects removed, and names replaced by first initials. Kuklin includes an array of circumstances that may broaden readers' understanding, conveying the difficult choices undocumented immigrants face at every step of their journeys. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) YA Rather than attempting to convey the spectrum of transgender experience through a multitude of voices, Kuklin focuses on just six young people whose gender identities are something other than what they were labeled at birth. Photographs (of most of the subjects) are candid and winning; appended material, including a Q&A with the director of a clinic for transgender teens, is valuable. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(1) YA The book opens with candid interviews introducing three inmates, all teenagers when they committed crimes. Next we meet family members of victims and inmates, then an anti–death penalty attorney. These profiles paint an unrelenting picture of the prison system, putting human faces on the issue and arguing that punishment often has as much to do with race and class as with justice. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2008

(4) PS Kuklin's vibrant color photos show historic steam engines from Colorado's Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad as they transport tourists through the Rocky Mountains. Energetic, heavily onomatopoeic text ("Along the track / Chugga-chugga / Clickety-clack / Along the track") describes the action but doesn't deliver the "story" promised by the title. An appendix offers factual information about the trains.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) K-3 A cover image of Andy Goldsworthy's installation Storm King Wall, a stone wall snaking among trees down to the water, entices readers to open this meditation on walls, both as canvases for murals and as structures for enclosure or defense. "We share walls," photographer Kuklin writes in her spare text, and her clear, beautiful color images of China's Great Wall or a seaside sandcastle do just that. Information about the photographs is appended.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) K-3 Photographs by Susan Kuklin. In this "inversion" of the traditional Nutcracker, narrative captions tell how Clara, an older woman, and her recently deceased husband, who enacts the Nutcracker prince, fight off Death and celebrate at Club Sweets. Byrd's tribute to family and Harlem comes to life through Kuklin's vivid color photographs of Byrd's company dancing the ballet.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman

(4) YA Kuklin recounts, from opening statements to final verdict, a legal case involving the kidnapping of two illegal Chinese immigrants. The book serves as a detailed, step-by-step introduction to the judicial system and courtroom protocol, but readers may lose interest because the central case is intrinsically confusing and lacks youth appeal. A few black-and-white photos are included. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(1) K-3 Photographs by Susan Kuklin. Photographs of the gifted dancer Bill T. Jones in various movements are shot against a white background. The spare and poetic text moves in balanced harmony with the figure or figures on each page. With its powerful and beautiful pictures demonstrating the joy of movement, this book can make just about everybody--boys and girls, young and old--want to kick up their heels and dance.

Reviewer: Nancy Vasilakis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 1999

(2) 4-6 Kuklin describes the tragic yet fruitful life of the young Pakistani rug weaver who broke out of bondage to become a leader against child slavery in his own country and abroad until his murder. A stunning opening photograph of Iqbal commands the reader's attention, and many other wrenching pictures tell the plight of bonded children. The book concludes with a rich store of appended material. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 1999