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Dead Man Walking

Graphic Edition

Author Helen Prejean, Rose Vines
Illustrated by Catherine Anyango Grünewald
Paperback
$24.00 US
Random House Group | Random House
7-1/2"W x 10"H
On sale Oct 28, 2025 | 304 Pages | 9780593134856
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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In this graphic adaptation of Sister Helen Prejean’s bestselling memoir, acclaimed artist Catherine Anyango Grünewald and writer Rose Vines bring to striking visual life the story of a nun who becomes a fierce advocate against the death penalty.

“The now legendary story of Dead Man Walking has been heard and seen by millions. This updated, graphic presentation is yet another way for others, hopefully a new generation, to witness the inhumane treatment of those in our prisons.”—John Grisham

Growing up in a middle-class Roman Catholic family in the Jim Crow South, Sister Helen Prejean had resisted the idea that religious faith could be harnessed into social justice until dramatic changes sweeping the Catholic Church in the 1960s and ’70s landed her in the heart of the New Orleans housing projects.

There, she was asked to write a letter to Patrick Sonnier—a man sentenced to die in Louisiana’s electric chair for the murder of two teenagers. When Sonnier wrote back, Prejean’s life irrevocably altered course. She came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying, as well as the victims’ families and the men who were charged with putting Sonnier to death.

For more than four decades, Prejean has worked alongside the convicted, as well as the families of victims, to abolish the death penalty, a sentence often determined by race, economic status, and geography.

This graphic adaptation of Prejean’s memoir offers an accessible way to engage with one of the most complex moral and emotional issues facing our country. Rose Vines skillfully interlaces recent developments with the original account, amplifying its relevance for today’s readers. Catherine Anyango Grünewald’s illustrations urge us to grapple with the humanity of this story, drawing an evocative, unforgettable portrait of mercy and justice.
© Cheryl Gerber Photo
Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, is known worldwide for starting a dialogue on the death penalty. After witnessing the electrocution of a condemned man in a Louisiana prison in 1984, Prejean wrote the bestselling Dead Man Walking and set out, through storytelling, to bring citizens close to the hard realities of government killings. Her mission has taken her to every U.S. state and to the Vatican, where her personal entreaties to two popes helped to shape Catholic opposition to the death penalty. When not on the road, this lifelong Louisianan, loves to share Cajun jokes, eat Southern cooking, play spirited card games, and write, exploring her fascination with the Divine spark she believes is in everyone: to seek truth, love ardently, and meet, head on, the suffering world. View titles by Helen Prejean
© Lillian Eyrich
Rose Vines is an award-winning writer, editor, and technology expert who has worked alongside Sister Helen Prejean at the Ministry Against the Death Penalty for more than two decades. She has created a companion website for Dead Man Walking: Graphic Edition at gdmw.org. View titles by Rose Vines
© Maria de la Croix
Catherine Anyango Grünewald is an internationally exhibited artist and lecturer. She was awarded the Navigator Art on Paper Prize, the largest award for work on paper in the world. She taught at the Royal College of Art in London for ten years and is now a senior lecturer in illustration at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. View titles by Catherine Anyango Grünewald
-
Copyright © 1994 by Sister Helen Prejean. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
“The now legendary story of Dead Man Walking has been heard and seen by millions. This updated, graphic presentation is yet another way for others, hopefully a new generation, to witness the inhumane treatment of those in our prisons. As I read it, I asked once again the question so many evade: If it is wrong to kill, why do we allow the State to kill in our name?”—John Grisham, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Innocent Man and co-author of Framed

“Sister Helen’s powerful story of the harm we create when we kill one another is an essential read not just for understanding the cruelty of capital punishment, but also the beauty of mercy, justice, and redemption.”—Bryan Stevenson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy

About

In this graphic adaptation of Sister Helen Prejean’s bestselling memoir, acclaimed artist Catherine Anyango Grünewald and writer Rose Vines bring to striking visual life the story of a nun who becomes a fierce advocate against the death penalty.

“The now legendary story of Dead Man Walking has been heard and seen by millions. This updated, graphic presentation is yet another way for others, hopefully a new generation, to witness the inhumane treatment of those in our prisons.”—John Grisham

Growing up in a middle-class Roman Catholic family in the Jim Crow South, Sister Helen Prejean had resisted the idea that religious faith could be harnessed into social justice until dramatic changes sweeping the Catholic Church in the 1960s and ’70s landed her in the heart of the New Orleans housing projects.

There, she was asked to write a letter to Patrick Sonnier—a man sentenced to die in Louisiana’s electric chair for the murder of two teenagers. When Sonnier wrote back, Prejean’s life irrevocably altered course. She came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying, as well as the victims’ families and the men who were charged with putting Sonnier to death.

For more than four decades, Prejean has worked alongside the convicted, as well as the families of victims, to abolish the death penalty, a sentence often determined by race, economic status, and geography.

This graphic adaptation of Prejean’s memoir offers an accessible way to engage with one of the most complex moral and emotional issues facing our country. Rose Vines skillfully interlaces recent developments with the original account, amplifying its relevance for today’s readers. Catherine Anyango Grünewald’s illustrations urge us to grapple with the humanity of this story, drawing an evocative, unforgettable portrait of mercy and justice.

Author

© Cheryl Gerber Photo
Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, is known worldwide for starting a dialogue on the death penalty. After witnessing the electrocution of a condemned man in a Louisiana prison in 1984, Prejean wrote the bestselling Dead Man Walking and set out, through storytelling, to bring citizens close to the hard realities of government killings. Her mission has taken her to every U.S. state and to the Vatican, where her personal entreaties to two popes helped to shape Catholic opposition to the death penalty. When not on the road, this lifelong Louisianan, loves to share Cajun jokes, eat Southern cooking, play spirited card games, and write, exploring her fascination with the Divine spark she believes is in everyone: to seek truth, love ardently, and meet, head on, the suffering world. View titles by Helen Prejean
© Lillian Eyrich
Rose Vines is an award-winning writer, editor, and technology expert who has worked alongside Sister Helen Prejean at the Ministry Against the Death Penalty for more than two decades. She has created a companion website for Dead Man Walking: Graphic Edition at gdmw.org. View titles by Rose Vines
© Maria de la Croix
Catherine Anyango Grünewald is an internationally exhibited artist and lecturer. She was awarded the Navigator Art on Paper Prize, the largest award for work on paper in the world. She taught at the Royal College of Art in London for ten years and is now a senior lecturer in illustration at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. View titles by Catherine Anyango Grünewald

Excerpt

-
Copyright © 1994 by Sister Helen Prejean. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Praise

“The now legendary story of Dead Man Walking has been heard and seen by millions. This updated, graphic presentation is yet another way for others, hopefully a new generation, to witness the inhumane treatment of those in our prisons. As I read it, I asked once again the question so many evade: If it is wrong to kill, why do we allow the State to kill in our name?”—John Grisham, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Innocent Man and co-author of Framed

“Sister Helen’s powerful story of the harm we create when we kill one another is an essential read not just for understanding the cruelty of capital punishment, but also the beauty of mercy, justice, and redemption.”—Bryan Stevenson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy

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