Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F Per
Genres
Collection
Publication
Minneapolis : Carolrhoda LAB, c2011.
Description
Young Adult Fictio HTML: "Another day finished, gracias a Dios." Seventeen-year-old Marisa's mother has been saying this for as long as Marisa can remember. Her parents came to Houston from Mexico. They work hard, and they expect Marisa to help her familia. An ordinary life�??marrying a neighborhood guy, working, having babies�??ought to be good enough for her. Marisa hears something else from her calc teacher. She should study harder, ace the AP test, and get into engineering school in Austin. Some days, it all seems possible. On others, she's not even sure what she wants. When her life at home becomes unbearable, Marisa seeks comfort elsewhere�??and suddenly neither her best friend nor boyfriend can get through to her. Caught between the expectations of two different worlds, Marisa isn't sure what she wants�??other than a life where she doesn't end each day thanking God it's over. But some things just can'… (more)
Original publication date
2011-03
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member jinkay
Marisa dreams of getting into a good engineering program in Austin but her familia would rather have her stay in Houston to help out with the house chores and to pitch in financially. When juggling work, school, taking care of her niece and her father's demands becomes too much, Marisa's life
I liked how gritty and real this book was. You are instantly thrown into Maria's family life where school is not a priority, college is not that important and family duty trumps everything else. I loved Marisa's character. Her home life left a lot to be desired but she was able to stay strong inspite of the hurdles she had to face. This is a wonderful story of hope and determination. Highly-recommended!
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spirals out of control. And she has to decide what's important to her before it's too late. I liked how gritty and real this book was. You are instantly thrown into Maria's family life where school is not a priority, college is not that important and family duty trumps everything else. I loved Marisa's character. Her home life left a lot to be desired but she was able to stay strong inspite of the hurdles she had to face. This is a wonderful story of hope and determination. Highly-recommended!
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LibraryThing member meags222
I received this book from NetGalley for review and I read this book fairly quickly; it was done in 2 days. That being said, I had mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the plot of the book which is about a senior in high school trying to keep her familial cultural identity as a Mexican
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but also her identity as a high school senior in America. At times these two things do not fit cohesively. There is a strong pressure to stay in town and take care of her family rather than move forward, do well in school, graduate and move on to college. Marisa is struggling through this and also has to deal with some pretty serious personal issues regarding a boy. Marisa's fate seems almost doomed from the beginning but in the end she turns it around and tells the people she is closest with how she truely feels. The problem I had with this book is that I felt that some of the plot was glossed over. The author could have really gone a bit deeper and made the story a little more heart-touching. I also became very frustrated with not only Marisa's father but also her mother and sister. I felt that at times they were relying on Marisa for everything without thinking of what they could do to help themselves. They always relied on the fact that this is the way it is and that's that. I am a true believer that you are not predestined by your situation. You can always make different choices and you shouldn't use your situation as an excuse for not changing or trying. Overall I give this book 3 out of 5. As I said I read it quickly and was intrigued by the characters and the plot but I thought that the author could have gone a bit deeper with the story and emotions of the characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member theepicrat
what can(t) wait gave me unexpected delight in how much I could relate with Marisa. Not to the same extremes in terms of parents and pregnancies, but still I shared the same sense of feeling overwhelmed with the need to take care of everyone first before our own.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I
what can(t) wait seems like such a simple read at first, but as the worries kept piling up, Marisa's struggle between her needs versus her family's seemed like an impossible task. Can she afford to dream big without feeling guilty? Can she work to help out her family without risking her educational goals? Will she fall under the lure of the male persuasion and become part of the teen pregnancy statistic? The weight on Marisa's shoulders is far more than what a teenager should undertake, yet it gives me pause to consider how fortunate I have been to have supportive parents and far less worries.
Fans of Ugly Betty are sure to welcome Marisa and what can(t) wait with open arms, especially those who feel burdened with the pressures of college applications, parents, and other teenaged woes.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I
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cried at certain points of what can(t) wait - particularly the parts where Marisa and her father fought about her future. Her father's thinking absolutely shocked me, especially when he did not seem very supportive of Marisa going to college. Instead he wanted her to work longer to support their family. As someone whose parents were very insistent on school, I could not fathom such a parent!what can(t) wait seems like such a simple read at first, but as the worries kept piling up, Marisa's struggle between her needs versus her family's seemed like an impossible task. Can she afford to dream big without feeling guilty? Can she work to help out her family without risking her educational goals? Will she fall under the lure of the male persuasion and become part of the teen pregnancy statistic? The weight on Marisa's shoulders is far more than what a teenager should undertake, yet it gives me pause to consider how fortunate I have been to have supportive parents and far less worries.
Fans of Ugly Betty are sure to welcome Marisa and what can(t) wait with open arms, especially those who feel burdened with the pressures of college applications, parents, and other teenaged woes.
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LibraryThing member bdouglas97
A realistic view of how it probably is for many hispanic kids in high school.
LibraryThing member flannabanana
When I saw that this book was not only about the Mexican-American experience but that it also included a teenage girl who excelled in math, I couldn’t wait to read it. (the Mexican experience aspect because I find it fascinating and the math thing to stick it to my 5th grade science teacher who
This book gives of a Dairy Queen series vibe, and we all know what a good thing that is. The family situation is quite similar as well—a teenage girl who has to work hard for her family to the detriment of her schoolwork, her friendships, her love life, and her future, a dad who just doesn’t get it, a mother who seems like a pushover in many cases, and siblings who often compound family stress. There isn't much in the way of descriptive writing going on but I truly didn't mind--Ashley Hope Pérez wrote a book that feels like we are reading Marisa's journal of her entire year. (perhaps that is another reason I kept thinking of DJ Schwenk?)
I checked out the publisher of this novel because I had never encountered them before and I thought perhaps Carolrhoda was a word in a different language—as it turns out, the origin of the imprint name is quite a touching story. The head of Lerner Publishing Group, Carolrhoda Press’ parent company, named the imprint after his wife’s lifelong best friend who died too young of breast cancer. She was in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia and worked to bring more books to children worldwide. Carolrhoda Lab, an offshoot of Carolrhoda Press, is a smaller imprint dedicated to publishing , “distinctive, provocative, boundary-pushing fiction for teens and their sympathizers.” (I chuckled at the teen sympathizers line—I suppose I don’t mind being labeled as such) After reading this work, I am certainly going to see what else this imprint has to offer.
3.5-3.75 stars rounded up.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this one!
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told my mom that it was no big deal that I sucked at circuitry because I was a girl and would obviously never need to know anything about it) The only other YA books that I’ve read involving Mexican teenagers are Simone Elkeles’s Fuentes brothers books, and those are firmly anchored by their romantic plotlines. While I enjoyed those books, I’m happy to say that What Can’t Wait is not carried by Marisa’s romantic life. Instead, we follow Marisa Moreno through her senior year of high school. No one in her family has ever gone to college but Marisa and several people who surround her believe that she has what it takes to achieve something more. Her attempts are thwarted left and right but she doesn't give in. I have to say, I always find it refreshing when a teenage protagonist is a hard worker and grounded in reality. So many YA books are based around trivialities but this one deals with several more serious issues. Yes, I remember how ridiculous many of my teenage concerns were and recognize that these books of which I speak are probably very true to actual teenage concerns and life. I guess I just like things a little more gritty. The tone of this novel is realistic, a little on the dark side, but decidedly optimistic. And the pacing is quick yet steady; I never felt like the story was rushed or that there was lag.This book gives of a Dairy Queen series vibe, and we all know what a good thing that is. The family situation is quite similar as well—a teenage girl who has to work hard for her family to the detriment of her schoolwork, her friendships, her love life, and her future, a dad who just doesn’t get it, a mother who seems like a pushover in many cases, and siblings who often compound family stress. There isn't much in the way of descriptive writing going on but I truly didn't mind--Ashley Hope Pérez wrote a book that feels like we are reading Marisa's journal of her entire year. (perhaps that is another reason I kept thinking of DJ Schwenk?)
I checked out the publisher of this novel because I had never encountered them before and I thought perhaps Carolrhoda was a word in a different language—as it turns out, the origin of the imprint name is quite a touching story. The head of Lerner Publishing Group, Carolrhoda Press’ parent company, named the imprint after his wife’s lifelong best friend who died too young of breast cancer. She was in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia and worked to bring more books to children worldwide. Carolrhoda Lab, an offshoot of Carolrhoda Press, is a smaller imprint dedicated to publishing , “distinctive, provocative, boundary-pushing fiction for teens and their sympathizers.” (I chuckled at the teen sympathizers line—I suppose I don’t mind being labeled as such) After reading this work, I am certainly going to see what else this imprint has to offer.
3.5-3.75 stars rounded up.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this one!
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LibraryThing member fromthecomfychair
Marisa is a Mexican-American high-school senior from a traditional Mexican immigrant family living in Houston. So she's expected to be a self-sacrificing, dutiful daughter who puts everyone else ahead of her. And she actually tries to do this. Her one "flaw" is that she is good at math, and she
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wants something different: an education, and an engineering career. What I loved about this book was it's authenticity. The author knows her characters, their lives and struggles: the angry, closed-off traditional father, the loyal, beaten-down mother, the brother who gets to take care of himself first, the sister who gets pregnant and marries the good-for-nothing who goes and gets himself disabled in a work accident. I so much want to share this book with a high school senior whose immigrant parents don't seem to care that their daughter might get a high school degree and go on to college--but I think she's too busy to read it. Show Less
LibraryThing member rgruberexcel
RGG: Conflict between familial and cultural expectations vs. personal ambitions to attend college and follow personal dreams feels very realistic. Issues of teen pregnancy, male sexual expectations, female sexual feelings, and managing friendships are well-done without being didactic. Reading
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Interest: YA. Show Less
Pages
234