Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for Young Families Hardcover – May 4, 2021

This is a superbly pleasurable read, and a call to action. The story is gripping, and the characters are well drawn. Most importantly, it offers thoughts on improvements we can make in higher education for parenting students that improve race equity outcomes. A book like this can change the future.

Arrived fast, at a good price, and in nearly new condition.

I don’t write reviews on here, like ever. But this book... I’m not even to the second section & it’s already brought tears to my eyes & made me scream YES out loud... I think that tells you everything you need to know. Seriously, as a teen mom who navigated graduating high school, undergrad, and graduate school as a single parent; I love what Nicole is doing in this material. It’s a story that needs to be told. An authentic one. Not the glammed up version that MTV has portrayed. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I’ll try to remember to come back once I’m done to add additional comments.

This book will bring you to tears. It will also keep you interested to not want to put it down. For anyone who has ever struggled this book is for you.

Why did I choose the title of my review "Evading the statistics"? Two reasons.First - the author does a fine job detailing her experiences evading the statistics that trap most pregnant teen mothers from finishing their education - be it high school or college. The fact that she stuck to her goal of completing a university degree while struggling to juggle course work and single parenthood is quite remarkable. Her vivid descriptions of the daily ordeal of getting both her and her child ready for the day, dropping off her daughter at daycare, attending class, picking up her daughter, making dinner and doing homework was exhausting to read - I can't imagine actually living this existence day in and day out. I was a single parent doing the same with two small children (albeit at a more mature age) but with a job and not with college, so I can relate to a lot of the day to day grind. At least I didn't have homework and writing papers to contend with. While some might ask why smart women choose partners that fail to provide an adequate level of emotional/physical and/or financial support, the sad fact is that we can't always choose who we fall in love with. The author had the dogged determination to stick to her plan and achieve her goals, and this book kept me reading until the very end to see how her life turned it. Becoming an advocate for young women in similar circumstances was quite awe inspiring.The second reason for my title was my own personal tendency to skim through the sections where she delves into the statistics of young women, especially those of color, who fall victim to a system that fails to provide adequate levels of support. The author has done an admirable amount of research to present these facts and figures, but this was not why I choose to read this book. I wanted to hear about her story, her experiences, and her triumphs. This does not take way from the book itself, this was just my preference in reading her story. While she did make her way largely alone in this tale, she did receive some assistance from the father of the child (as sporadic and fraught with danger as it may have been) as well as from her parents - mostly her mother - as this was gratifying to read. Many teen mothers receive virtually nothing in the way of family support, which is a national tragedy.Overall this was a great triumph over adversity story and one that needs to be told. The author is a great role model for other young women who may find themselves in a similar circumstance. Living in the northern VA area, I could relate to many of the places and locations she mentions, which made this book even more interesting for me.

Great storytelling and very eye-opening.

Even though I am not a teen parent myself, this book has been eye-opening and shifted my perspective on ways that each and every one of us can look at issues in our communities and make a real, tangible difference. In her narrative, Nicole Lynn Lewis outlines her experience as an honors student in high school who always expected to go to college -- just like any other honors student in middle class America. However, everything changed when she became pregnant as a senior in high school. She documents the path of unique lived experiences that this pregnancy took her on and how it took her further and further away from her originally intended path. The further she got, the more she realized the importance of earning a degree, something she once took for granted, as it would provide the economic mobility needed for Nicole to provide a better life for her daughter. In "Pregnant Girl," she masterfully connects a personal narrative account of her own lived experiences (while also lifting up the voices of teen parents she works with!) with facts on policies that have shaped our society into one that stigmatizes teen pregnancy, especially when it comes to Black teen mothers. Please read for yourself how Nicole went from being know as a "pregnant girl" to becoming the CEO and Founder of Generation Hope, a nonprofit in Washington, DC that offers wrap-around support to help student parents earn college degrees and create better lives for themselves and their families. Nicole saw a problem -- the barriers that are in place for teen parents -- and continues even now to advocate for their removal on a national and systemic level. This is a great holiday gift for anyone who is interested in creating a more accepting world that works for everyone.