Based on the author’s time teaching at an inner-city school, “What Can’t Wait” is a realisitc story of one Hispanic teen’s life in a low-income neighborhood in Texas. Marisa’s voice drew me in immediately; Pèrez weaves a story that is ultimately hopeful, but also down-to-earth. “What Can’t Wait” not only kept me turning the pages—it made me pause to think about the blessings of my own life when I was done.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Lerner Publishing Group

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 11 religious exclamations; 15 mild obscenities; 4 religious profanities; 7 derogatory terms (there are also 2 or 3 mildly derogatory terms in Spanish); 37 scatalogical terms; 16 anatomical terms; 2 obscene hand gestures; 8 f-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore: A character is severely injured in a forklift accident at work (the accident is reported second-hand). A boy attempts to date-rape a girl. A boy makes crude threats to a girl and the girl threatens him with a cut glass bottle (the scene is fairly intense). It is implied that two marriages have some degree of abuse, but no detail is ever given. Gangs are referenced.

Sex/Nudity Rating: Characters flirt, hold hands, and kiss. A character notes crude graffiti. Teenagers reference sex, pregnancy, and attempted rape. A girl has thoughts about “wanting” a boy, and that he is “making [her] hot in x-rated places.” Two teenagers have intense makeout sessions on three occasions and come close to, but do not have, sex. (These scenes are half a page to a page long, and include a lot of detail.) A teen becomes pregnant (no detail is given and it is only reported second-hand), and it is implied that another girl became pregnant when she was a teen (she is now married). A girl mentions boys looking at pornography on their cell phones. A boy tries to force a girl to have sex with him (attempted date rape). A lot of detail is given. Later, the same boy indicates that he is going to act similarly (but it does not go as far). 

Mature Subject Matter:

Mature themes include implied abuse (parental and spousal), teenage sex and pregnancy, date rape, immigrant struggles, and serious/disabling injury.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Six instances of drug or alcohol use (cigarette smoking; references to marijuana, including drug trade; alcohol consumption by minors).