Nell Bernstein is a former Soros Justice Media Fellow, a winner of a White House Champion of Change award, and the author of All Alone in the World. Her articles have appeared in Newsday, Salon, Mother Jones, and the Washington Post, among other publications. She lives outside Berkeley, California.
Praise for Burning Down the House:
"Passionate, thoughtful, and well-researched, this is a resounding
call to action."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Passionate and convincing."
Kirkus Reviews
"Burning Down the House by Nell Bernstein reveals a shocking truth:
what adults do to children behind the walls of America's juvenile
prisons is criminal. If we want to change the United States'
senseless addiction to incarceration, the best possible place to
start is transforming how our justice system treats our children.
This book shows just how that can be done."
Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black
"Engrossing, disturbing, at times heartbreaking, Burning Down the
House offers a seed of hope: a future where all children are valued
and free. Told in the voices of children kept in cages, this book
should fuel the growing movement to curb America's uniquely
excessive reliance on juvenile incarceration."
Van Jones, author of Rebuild the Dream
"In the haunting voices of children shut away in nightmarish
facilities, their lives defined by abuse and brutality, Nell
Bernstein brings to light the betrayal of the juvenile court's
promise of 'rehabilitation.' With her empathetic ear, sharp,
impassioned prose, and deft use of compelling evidence, Nell
Bernstein is the ideal messenger for the many thousands of children
who will go to sleep tonight on a concrete bunk in an empty cell,
convinced that there is no place for them in the world.
Ayelet Waldman, editor of Inside This Place, Not of It
"Drawing on well-documented history, compelling research, and her
strong sense of justice, Nell Bernstein asks a provocative
question: why do we have juvenile prisons? Seizing the momentum of
the sharp decline in imprisoned youth, this smart and humane book
makes a persuasive case that the time for tinkering has passed.
Bernstein leads the reader to ask a heretical question: are we
witnessing the beginning of the end?"
Jeremy Travis, president, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
"A riveting must-read for anyone on the 'outside' with influence to
send kids to the 'inside' of juvenile prisons. This exposé of the
anguish, pain, and suffering of kids we place inside the razor
wires, all for a false sense of public safety, should provoke in
all of us to carry the torch to 'Burn Down the House.'
Judge Steven C. Teske, chief judge, Clayton County Juvenile Court,
and author of Reform Juvenile Justice Now
Praise for Nell Bernstein:
"The White House honors [Nell Bernstein] for [her] dedication to
the well-being of children of incarcerated parents."
The White House Champions of Change
Praise for All Alone in the World, Bernstein's previous book:
"An urgent invitation to care for all children as our own."
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family
"Powerful. . . . Highly recommended."
Choice
"[A] moving condemnation of the U.S. penal system and its effect on
families."
Parents Press
Meticulously reported and sensitively written."
Salon
"Brimming with compelling case studies . . . and recommendations
for change."
Orlando Sentinel
"Serious, moving, and well organized . . . this book could help
galvanize a national will to tackle such problems."
Library Journal (starred review)
"Bernstein's book pumps up awareness of the problems [and] provides
a checklist for what needs to be done."
Publishers Weekly
"In terms of elegance, breadth and persuasiveness, All Alone in the
World deserves to be placed alongside other classics of the genre
such as Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities, Alex Kotlowitz's
There Are No Children Here and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc's Random
Family. But to praise the book’s considerable literary or
sociological merit seems beside the point. This book belongs not
only on shelves but also in the hands of judges and lawmakers."
San Francisco Chronicle
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