Reviews of THE EXCEPTIONS

December 2022:
Kirkus, Starred Review

“A fascinating, heartening account of successful advocacy in the scientific and academic communities.”

December 2022:
Publishers Weekly

“Striking an expert balance between the big picture and intimate profiles of the women involved, Zernike offers an intriguing and often infuriating glimpse into the rarefied world of higher education. Readers will be fascinated.”

December 2022:
Science Magazine

Science Books Editor Valerie Thompson chooses The Exceptions as the book she is most looking forward to reading in 2023.

January 2023:
Booklist, Starred Review

“Zernike, a wonderful storyteller, seamlessly weaves together contemporary events, facts and statistics, and telling anecdotes from women who were working in the sciences at that time.”

“In 1999, author Kate Zernike, then a reporter for The Boston Globe, broke an enormous story: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had admitted to a long-standing pattern of discrimination against women on its faculty…. These women’s efforts—and the subsequent impact this revelation had for women across academia—make for a gripping, page-turning read.”

February 2023:
Bookpage

February 2023:
Wall Street Journal

“The obstacles to women’s equality in science have not disappeared. But we have Nancy Hopkins and the other intrepid ‘exceptions’ to thank for razing so many hurdles—and providing the inspiration to continue on.”

February 2023:
Science Magazine

“Zernike adds gripping daily life details that make Hopkins’s story come deeply alive…. The cumulative weight of Hopkins’s and her colleagues’ experiences could make for disheartening reading, yet one puts down the book inspired by the women’s grit, tenacity, and brilliance.”

February 2023:
Newsweek Q & A

“Nancy Hopkins and 15 colleagues at MIT banded together to demonstrate gender inequities among faculty resources in the '90s. Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Kate Zernike tells their story in her new book, The Exceptions (Scribner, February). In this Q&A, she discusses the advances they helped bring about, the issues still faced by women in STEM and what the key is to providing equal opportunity to girls and women in the sciences.”

February 2023:
Newsweek Excerpt

“The story of Nancy Hopkins and how she and her 15 colleagues fought for fair treatment is told in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kate Zernike's The Exceptions (Scribner, February). In the excerpt below from her book, Zernike shares the roots of how she came to research this triumph.”

February 2023:
The New York Times

“There were 16 rule breakers on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And exactly what these women endured for the right to do their work is the subject of Kate Zernike’s excellent and infuriating new book.”

February 2023:
The Associated Press

“Zernike’s book is a inspiring but often infuriating account of the ways that MIT had discriminated against some of the brightest scientists in their fields…. Zernike’s book deftly describes the way women in science had been marginalized and discriminated against over the years.”

February 2023:
Los Angeles Times

“In intimate detail, Zernike narrates Hopkins’ entire journey — from uncertain undergraduate in 1963 to determined postdoc to innovative cancer researcher and admired professor.”

March 2023:
Nature

“A deeply researched dive into the history of gender discrimination in US higher education… [The Exceptions] is a single story acutely told, with a historical context that enriches and deepens its narrative.

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