Bernstein, Nina 1949-

Personal

Born October 7, 1949, in New York, NY; daughter of Lester (a journalist) and Mimi Bernstein; married Andreas Huyssen (a professor of literature), June 22, 1975; children: Daniel, David. Education: Radcliffe College, Harvard, B.A. (history and literature), 1970.

Addresses

Home—New York, NY. Office—Gloria Loomis, Watkins/Loomis Agency, 133 E. 35th St., New York, NY 10016.

Career

Journalist and author. Formerly worked as a reporter in Des Moines, IA; Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee, WI, reporter, 1972-86; New York Newsday, New York, NY, foreign correspondent, 1990-91, then reporter, 1991-95; New York Times, New York, NY, reporter, 1995—.

Awards, Honors

Nieman Foundation fellowship, Harvard University, 1983-84; Mike Berger Award, Columbia University School of Journalism, 1994, for New York Newsday series on Shirley Wilder; Alicia Patterson Foundation fellowship; George Polk Award for distinguished media coverage, 1995; National Book Award finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, New York Public Library, PEN/ Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction, and Holtzbrinck fellowship, American Academy, all 2002, all for The Lost Children of Wilder.

Writings

The Lost Children of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster Care (nonfiction), Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Magic by the Book (children's novel), illustrated by Boris Kulikov, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2005.

Author's work has been translated into German, Turkish, Portuguese, and Slovenian.

Adaptations

Magic by the Book was adapted as an audiobook, read by Katie Firth, Recorded Books, 2005.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Advocate, January, 2002, Tom Gove, review of The Lost Children of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster Care, p. 125.

America, October 1, 2001, Michael S. Kugelman, review of The Lost Children of Wilder, p. 26.

Booklist, February 15, 2001, Mary Carroll, review of The Lost Children of Wilder, p. 1089; April 15, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Magic by the Book p. 1464.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 2005, Timnah Card, review of Magic by the Book, p. 244.

Choice, April, 2002, B.A. Pine, review of The Lost Children of Wilder, p. 1459.

Denver Post, April 8, 2001, Steve Weinberg, "Wicked Child-Care System Unveiled."

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2005, review of Magic by the Book, p. 225.

Nation, May 28, 2001, Daphne Eviatar, review of The Lost Children of Wilder, p. 244.

New Yorker, April 23, 2001, review of The Lost Children of Wilder, p. 194.

New York Times Book Review, March 25, 2001, Tanya Luhrmann, "A Perfect Test Case," p. 8.

New York Times Review of Books, May 17, 2001, James Traub, review of The Lost Children of Wilder, p. 24.

Publishers Weekly, December 18, 2000, review of The Lost Children of Wilder, p. 64; April 25, 2005, review of Magic by the Book, p. 57.

School Library Journal, March, 2005, Caitlin Augusta, review of Magic by the Book, p. 206.

ONLINE

New York Public Library Web site,http://www.nypl.org/ (May 9, 2002), "Nina Bernstein Wins the 2002 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism."