I had to read seven books for my reading log due every few months so I chose this one. Well, it was a great thing I did. Before we were free is about many horrible things happening in Anita's country. Such as the SIM police searching everyone's house, El Jefe which is a lecherous man, and Anita's relatives are missing. While the book doesn't have bad content, some of it is very mature. For sexual content, it is very iffy. Not explicit and no discussions of sex but there are references of a girls' breasts being too small, a girl getting her period, and El Jefe is a lecherous man. Profanity, is also iffy. There is some profanity such as one use of S.O.B. (printed just like that) and b***ard. For violence, it's not an issue. Some topics deal with violence but they don't go that much in depth. I highly recommend the book for children 12 and up. There is some mature content that pushes the kid borderline, but the book isn't too explicit either.