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Testing the Waters
As a responsible twenty-six-year-old mother and wife, no one would ever guess that I am also the birth mother to two little girls who were separated from my custody when I was just eighteen. I have made the choice to reflect back on the decisions that led to the tragic consequences that I was forced to endure, and helplessly witness my small children endure, as we were torn apart forever; in only six months.
Any foster/adoptive parent will be intrigued to know what can be happening on the other end of the spectrum, and gain a better insight as to what the birth-mother and children can be emotionally facing.
The constant fantasies of living on her own terms leads a fifteen-year-old girl to embark on a thoroughly plotted journey to become pregnant.
She obsessively studies fertility more than doing her homework. She charts her monthly cycles and tracks her most fertile days on a log kept secretly hidden under her bed.
After months of actively trying to conceive, she and her naïve nineteen-year-old boyfriend struggle through events that will shake their world, and shatter their over-confident assumptions of reality.
From a giddy girl with a fantasy, to a pregnant fifteen-year-old struggling to reverse her backfiring plot, this memoir is an invitation into the common thought patterns which are shaping the future for many young girls today. By making the conscious decision to become pregnant, Elizabeth Jeter altered her life in ways that she never could have imagined. She inadvertently introduced herself into a world of ill-intended criminals and quickly plummeted into their dark world, forgetting her values and nearly completely losing her identity for the next four years.
This book will capture the attention of anyone who are interested or have had experience with the following;
Adoption, Fostering, teens, parents of troubled teens, troubled teenagers, foster care workers, children in the foster system, those with substance abuse, alcoholism, domestic abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, social workers, public defenders, teachers, educators, public health workers, community volunteers, books on teenage pregnancy, books on adoption, books on foster care, books on ambiguous loss, books on grief, books on substance abuse, books on post-traumatic stress disorder, books on PTSD, books on stockholm syndrome, books on anxiety, books on depression, books on adolescence, books on keeping your kids safe, books on premarital sex, books on teen romance, womens studies, ebooks
Any foster/adoptive parent will be intrigued to know what can be happening on the other end of the spectrum, and gain a better insight as to what the birth-mother and children can be emotionally facing.
The constant fantasies of living on her own terms leads a fifteen-year-old girl to embark on a thoroughly plotted journey to become pregnant.
She obsessively studies fertility more than doing her homework. She charts her monthly cycles and tracks her most fertile days on a log kept secretly hidden under her bed.
After months of actively trying to conceive, she and her naïve nineteen-year-old boyfriend struggle through events that will shake their world, and shatter their over-confident assumptions of reality.
From a giddy girl with a fantasy, to a pregnant fifteen-year-old struggling to reverse her backfiring plot, this memoir is an invitation into the common thought patterns which are shaping the future for many young girls today. By making the conscious decision to become pregnant, Elizabeth Jeter altered her life in ways that she never could have imagined. She inadvertently introduced herself into a world of ill-intended criminals and quickly plummeted into their dark world, forgetting her values and nearly completely losing her identity for the next four years.
This book will capture the attention of anyone who are interested or have had experience with the following;
Adoption, Fostering, teens, parents of troubled teens, troubled teenagers, foster care workers, children in the foster system, those with substance abuse, alcoholism, domestic abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, social workers, public defenders, teachers, educators, public health workers, community volunteers, books on teenage pregnancy, books on adoption, books on foster care, books on ambiguous loss, books on grief, books on substance abuse, books on post-traumatic stress disorder, books on PTSD, books on stockholm syndrome, books on anxiety, books on depression, books on adolescence, books on keeping your kids safe, books on premarital sex, books on teen romance, womens studies, ebooks
- GenresMemoirNonfiction
186 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 30, 2013
35 people are currently reading
552 people want to read
About the author
E. McNew
20 books24 followersElizabeth McNew was raised in the small town of South Lake Tahoe, California, where she lived until the age of 21. She relocated to Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and back to Texas again where she is happily married with an infant daughter and beautiful home were she spends most of her time writing. Elizabeth has loved creating poetry and short stories from a very young age. Her first official publication was released on 8/26/2013, titled "Fifteen &...What!?". Born June 28th, 1987, Elizabeth is 26 years old and ecstatic that she has met her true passion and love for writing.
Through several series of tragic events early on in her life, Elizabeth is applying her suffering to her love of writing in hopes of touching any person who is going through hard times.
Through several series of tragic events early on in her life, Elizabeth is applying her suffering to her love of writing in hopes of touching any person who is going through hard times.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 30, 2013
I don't read non-fiction books. Now I know why. I become too involved.
I became so involved with the story and characters that I felt I was living the story. I felt the closest to Elizabeth. When she was upset, I felt her pain. Her stupid husband, Josh, annoyed me. I wanted to hit him. I understood her anger. Being betrayed by a best friend is also very hurtful. So much pain she endured.
Real life is much sadder than made-up tales. When I reached the end of the book, I felt like crying. I also wanted to scream out, What happens next?
Everyone makes bad decisions in their lives so we could all understand the author's angst. I must read the second book to see what happens to Elizabeth and her babies.
I became so involved with the story and characters that I felt I was living the story. I felt the closest to Elizabeth. When she was upset, I felt her pain. Her stupid husband, Josh, annoyed me. I wanted to hit him. I understood her anger. Being betrayed by a best friend is also very hurtful. So much pain she endured.
Real life is much sadder than made-up tales. When I reached the end of the book, I felt like crying. I also wanted to scream out, What happens next?
Everyone makes bad decisions in their lives so we could all understand the author's angst. I must read the second book to see what happens to Elizabeth and her babies.
December 18, 2013
Was hoping for the full story, not just the first part... but in spite of some grammatical mistakes, this was an interesting look at Elizabeth's mindset when she set out to get pregnant as a teenager. Though I'm disappointed the entire story wasn't included here, I will probably look for the second book since I do want to know what ended up happening.
December 5, 2013
Testing the Waters is the full version of "15 & What...?" We follow Elizabeth through her childhood dreams of wanting a family so bad, that she secretly plans to become pregnant unbeknownst to her boyfriend and soon-to-be father of her baby, and eventually, babies. Elizabeth is an extremely brave woman to be able to air out all her secrets for everyone to read. She has opened herself up for future criticism due to her now known past actions. Don't worry, girl! I've got your back :)
Elizabeth wrote this book in order for teens and the parents of teens to become aware of a harsh reality: many teen girls plan secret pregnancies!
She put her deepest secrets on blast in hopes that other teens may learn from her mistakes and that parents keep their daughters locked up in dungeons until a ripe, old age. Okay, the latter is just what I feel like doing with my own daughter who is now 11, almost 12... YIKES!
Elizabeth's story is one that everyone can benefit from. Whether you are a teenager, a parent, or just interested in reading memoirs, this book is for you. This girl has been through so much in her young life, that she decided to break her memoir up into four (I think it's four...) installments. I can't wait to read on! Get to work, Elizabeth! I'm cracking the whip!
Elizabeth wrote this book in order for teens and the parents of teens to become aware of a harsh reality: many teen girls plan secret pregnancies!
She put her deepest secrets on blast in hopes that other teens may learn from her mistakes and that parents keep their daughters locked up in dungeons until a ripe, old age. Okay, the latter is just what I feel like doing with my own daughter who is now 11, almost 12... YIKES!
Elizabeth's story is one that everyone can benefit from. Whether you are a teenager, a parent, or just interested in reading memoirs, this book is for you. This girl has been through so much in her young life, that she decided to break her memoir up into four (I think it's four...) installments. I can't wait to read on! Get to work, Elizabeth! I'm cracking the whip!
Want to read
January 2, 2014Testing the Waters (The Elements of Life) sounds like an interesting read so I decided to enter the first-reads giveaway and to my surprise I was a winner! Looking forward to reading this book!
own-under-diff-title-or-anthology
July 18, 2016Testing the Waters (Intriguing, Tragic, True.) ASIN: B00F9J9SFK
June 18, 2022
First of all she was fourteen when she started dating Josh(who was 18).
Her mom allowed him to date her AND have kids with her twice like are y’all fr??
And then near the end SHE cheated on him with a 30 something year old at 18. Which results in him fucking a 15 YEAR OLD girl. Mind you when they started dating he was 18(4 yr difference), so when he starting fucking that 15 year old he had to of been at least 22 YEARS OLD like wtf
And SHE’S the one who got put in jail?!! Like Josh messed around with MINORS TWICE and even had kids with a minor and he’s still walking around freely.
Plus this boy could not grow up for the life of me. He would get himself stuck in the hospital because of his drinking issues😒
All the men in this book were pedophiles. And if your thinking, “Oh how so?” LET ME GIVE EXAMPLES
Chapter 3:
Page 23
“Jimmy was openly hitting on me in front of Josh. I never took it seriously, knowing that he was in his mid-twenties.”..”The topic of boobs was somehow brought up, and Josh began bragging about how perfect mine were.’She probably doesn’t even have tits,she’s only fourteen’Donnie proclaimed.”
Page 24
“Jimmy excitedly challenged me. ‘Yeah, right. If they’re so awesome then prove it!’ Standing in the dark, surrounded by four men who were much older than me,I looked at Josh to defend me. ‘Show em.’ He confidently said.”
Like her own BOYFRIEND didn’t stop grown ass men from trying to convince her to look at her boobs.
The brothers at his job(Donnie & Derrick) CONSTANTLY hit on her and tried getting with her the whole time while Josh watched and didn’t say ANYTHING
“Derrick, who I had written off as a total pervert, was attempting to get any reaction out of me that he possibly could. ‘So Elizabeth, how should I break up with Macy? She just too dumb for me. I need someone smart,like you’ he said.”
“He smiled, laughed, and walked away. ‘Come see me when you’re eighteen!’ He yelled.” And josh didn’t say shit.
Everybody in this book was annoying and dumb af, except for her daughters(Chloe & Zoe) and her twin sister(Mal).
Don’t recommend to anyone! Not even my worst enemy.
Her mom allowed him to date her AND have kids with her twice like are y’all fr??
And then near the end SHE cheated on him with a 30 something year old at 18. Which results in him fucking a 15 YEAR OLD girl. Mind you when they started dating he was 18(4 yr difference), so when he starting fucking that 15 year old he had to of been at least 22 YEARS OLD like wtf
And SHE’S the one who got put in jail?!! Like Josh messed around with MINORS TWICE and even had kids with a minor and he’s still walking around freely.
Plus this boy could not grow up for the life of me. He would get himself stuck in the hospital because of his drinking issues😒
All the men in this book were pedophiles. And if your thinking, “Oh how so?” LET ME GIVE EXAMPLES
Chapter 3:
Page 23
“Jimmy was openly hitting on me in front of Josh. I never took it seriously, knowing that he was in his mid-twenties.”..”The topic of boobs was somehow brought up, and Josh began bragging about how perfect mine were.’She probably doesn’t even have tits,she’s only fourteen’Donnie proclaimed.”
Page 24
“Jimmy excitedly challenged me. ‘Yeah, right. If they’re so awesome then prove it!’ Standing in the dark, surrounded by four men who were much older than me,I looked at Josh to defend me. ‘Show em.’ He confidently said.”
Like her own BOYFRIEND didn’t stop grown ass men from trying to convince her to look at her boobs.
The brothers at his job(Donnie & Derrick) CONSTANTLY hit on her and tried getting with her the whole time while Josh watched and didn’t say ANYTHING
“Derrick, who I had written off as a total pervert, was attempting to get any reaction out of me that he possibly could. ‘So Elizabeth, how should I break up with Macy? She just too dumb for me. I need someone smart,like you’ he said.”
“He smiled, laughed, and walked away. ‘Come see me when you’re eighteen!’ He yelled.” And josh didn’t say shit.
Everybody in this book was annoying and dumb af, except for her daughters(Chloe & Zoe) and her twin sister(Mal).
Don’t recommend to anyone! Not even my worst enemy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2020
I read this book because I was desperate for something to read in the middle of the night. I'd already false-started four books -- deciding after a few pages that I didn't feel like reading each one. A memoir about teen pregnancy wouldn't normally be my first go-to. Apparently I had added borrowed this book from Kindle Unlimited at some point though so something about it must have struck my interest, right? I gave it a shot and it was a great read.
I see some people giving this book a bad review because it's a memoir about some poor decisions the author made as a girl. No question the author did some very stupid things. She was also victimized by a malicious and incompetent judicial system. She's honest about her thoughts and actions. I think that can cause her to come across as a worse person than most people. We all think things we later regret and we all do things we later regret right? How many of us publish an account of those thoughts and actions on Amazon.com? McNew did. Some of the choices she made were inexcusably dumb. Since they're inexcusable, I'm not going to offer a "but" here.
Regardless of what readers may think of her character or her intelligence, her honesty makes for a fantastic read. Memoirs are, too often, self-serving. We are to believe that the author is the lone sane and moral person in a world full of imbecilic bumblers and evil-doers. Sometimes those memoirs make for good reads. But I think that emotional honesty elevates a memoir to a higher level. The author is so much more relatable when they're not being disingenuous. McNew is laying things out here exactly as she recalls them. She acknowledges many of the mistakes she made and doesn't attempt to rationalize them.
I guess I haven't read a teen pregnancy memoir before this one but I suspect that this book is not typical of the genre. It's well worth reading.
I read the full memoir and I suspect I've just reviewed one of the installments that were originally published. I'll have to fix that. But not tonight.
I see some people giving this book a bad review because it's a memoir about some poor decisions the author made as a girl. No question the author did some very stupid things. She was also victimized by a malicious and incompetent judicial system. She's honest about her thoughts and actions. I think that can cause her to come across as a worse person than most people. We all think things we later regret and we all do things we later regret right? How many of us publish an account of those thoughts and actions on Amazon.com? McNew did. Some of the choices she made were inexcusably dumb. Since they're inexcusable, I'm not going to offer a "but" here.
Regardless of what readers may think of her character or her intelligence, her honesty makes for a fantastic read. Memoirs are, too often, self-serving. We are to believe that the author is the lone sane and moral person in a world full of imbecilic bumblers and evil-doers. Sometimes those memoirs make for good reads. But I think that emotional honesty elevates a memoir to a higher level. The author is so much more relatable when they're not being disingenuous. McNew is laying things out here exactly as she recalls them. She acknowledges many of the mistakes she made and doesn't attempt to rationalize them.
I guess I haven't read a teen pregnancy memoir before this one but I suspect that this book is not typical of the genre. It's well worth reading.
I read the full memoir and I suspect I've just reviewed one of the installments that were originally published. I'll have to fix that. But not tonight.
April 6, 2018
Sort of a weird choice here: the book's introductory matter talks not only about (planned) teen pregnancy but also about drugs and jail and a second (unplanned? unclear) teen pregnancy...but the book's material itself goes only part of the way through delivery. I do think there's a genuine attempt here to present an unvarnished picture of the pitfalls of teen parenting, but...I don't know. The structure and end result make me think that the bigger goal was to sell multiple books, making this whole book a cliffhanger for a second one. If I compare this to 16 and Pregnant/Teen Mom memoirs (because for some reason I've read a bunch of those), it holds its own...but that's not a high bar, and this doesn't really go beyond that.
July 20, 2016
**I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.**
I once had a dream that I was a mother. I was holding my daughter's hand, and she was just the prettiest thing in the world, with curly dark brown hair, just like mine, and the longest eyelashes. When I woke up, that feeling of motherly love was still there, and it just felt so weird and beautiful at the same time, that I couldn't help but imagine what I would be like as a mother.
Honestly, I do not have much knowledge on teen pregnancy. I've seen Juno, sure, but I just don't think the movie depicts the reality of teen moms. Testing the Waters seemed to demonstrate well the hardships that teen moms must overcome, to be accepted in the society and to take care of the baby; however, in the end, all these difficulties are so worth it because of something as small as a little laugh that the baby makes, which can make a world of difference.
I can't wait to read the next volumes and see what happens!
I once had a dream that I was a mother. I was holding my daughter's hand, and she was just the prettiest thing in the world, with curly dark brown hair, just like mine, and the longest eyelashes. When I woke up, that feeling of motherly love was still there, and it just felt so weird and beautiful at the same time, that I couldn't help but imagine what I would be like as a mother.
Honestly, I do not have much knowledge on teen pregnancy. I've seen Juno, sure, but I just don't think the movie depicts the reality of teen moms. Testing the Waters seemed to demonstrate well the hardships that teen moms must overcome, to be accepted in the society and to take care of the baby; however, in the end, all these difficulties are so worth it because of something as small as a little laugh that the baby makes, which can make a world of difference.
I can't wait to read the next volumes and see what happens!
December 16, 2013
By Alexandria
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Blasted through this book, can't wait for the next volume and I have so much more to say. . . But darn it, Mrs. McNew, you are so compelling that I pretty much obliterated my job performance tomorrow to stay up and finish this volume. I will have to edit this review with more insight on this great piece of work when I return home from the office tomorrow. . . After a nap."Testing the Waters
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Blasted through this book, can't wait for the next volume and I have so much more to say. . . But darn it, Mrs. McNew, you are so compelling that I pretty much obliterated my job performance tomorrow to stay up and finish this volume. I will have to edit this review with more insight on this great piece of work when I return home from the office tomorrow. . . After a nap."Testing the Waters
July 11, 2014
I loved the book, but a couple of things...(1) Why is the title "unplanned pregnancy"? The pregnancy was well thought out and planned. (2) Why does the summary review mention entering a dark, criminal world, other than her being in jail at the end? Speaking of this, HOW could the story possibly end like this?!
The story is beautiful, thought provoking and genuine. I've fallen in love with Elizabeth and her babies, and I'm anxious to know what happens to them.
I would have read the next installment of the memoir regardless, but I wish I knew it was an ongoing saga...that was the only real disappointment.
The story is beautiful, thought provoking and genuine. I've fallen in love with Elizabeth and her babies, and I'm anxious to know what happens to them.
I would have read the next installment of the memoir regardless, but I wish I knew it was an ongoing saga...that was the only real disappointment.
August 18, 2014
I think everyone should read this book. Anyone can make a wrong choice or take the wrong road. Sometimes there is no way back. A good mother, a clever girl with her whole life ahead of her, but she made some terrible decisions along the way. I hope this young lady found real happiness and peace. I will be thinking about this book for a long time into the future.
July 19, 2014
Amazing
Amazing
this book deserves 5 stars be a
use of the amount of feeling embedded into the words I could put myself into bed situation as if I was reading an excerpt from my "Book of Life"
Amazing
this book deserves 5 stars be a
use of the amount of feeling embedded into the words I could put myself into bed situation as if I was reading an excerpt from my "Book of Life"
July 29, 2014
The end
The end
I felt that the book needed a more fulfilling ending. I thought that there would be another chapter yet sadly there wasn't one, slightly disappointed.
The end
I felt that the book needed a more fulfilling ending. I thought that there would be another chapter yet sadly there wasn't one, slightly disappointed.
Read
April 9, 2014I would like to review this book that I WON in December but never received it....It would be nice if the author would send it to me
August 27, 2014
Unstoppable read. It's great to see the truthfulness pouring out. This has answered some questions I ran into when I was a teen. Thank you for sharing your life. :)
January 6, 2015
Wow
That was a very gripping story! I could not put my kindle down until it was finished and I was still looking for more. Very sad ending!
That was a very gripping story! I could not put my kindle down until it was finished and I was still looking for more. Very sad ending!
July 22, 2014
Is a great book to read
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews