Little Children by Tom Perotta

The ladies at the playground consider Todd “The Prom King”, but no one ever talks to him until Sarah shows up one day with her daughter Lucy. His wife Sarah produces documentaries and is jealous of the connection he has with their son Aaron. Sarah, on the other hand, was a feminist but is now in a traditional marriage to her husband Richard. Richard has secrets of his own that take him away from Sarah and Lucy. Mary Ann has to plan everything out right down to a scheduled time to have sex. But all of their worlds change when a convicted child molester moves into the neighborhood. They have to figure out how to deal with the issue without scaring their children. And two of the people listed above have an affair that goes too far.

When I first picked up this book somehow I thought it was a mystery. I don’t know why I thought that but oh well. I still have mixed feelings about this book even though I finished it yesterday. I felt sorry for all the spouses in this book. But I never felt they were really trying to do anything to keep their marriage intact. The sex got a little too blatant and normally I don't mind it if I can see it being realistic. Tom Perotta may be a fine writer but I didn’t really think so. The writing itself was fine but the characters came off a little too self-centered for me again.

The one that I felt sorry for the most was Kathy. She was trying to make money while her hubby Tom was working on passing his bar exam but she still feel left out. The poor dear really tried. I don’t agree with how some people treated the child molester. Now having said that, I don’t think they should be let back into society. Well, at least this one, but it is not an easy decision to make. If the person is not in public, don’t egg his house etc, just leave him be. Now if he/she is in public, then just stay near your kids so they can play. It’s just a tough call though I think a few neighbors took things too far with that situation.
I don’t recommend this book but I may try his book Election since they turned it into a movie. On the back of the book they compared him to Nicholas Hornby and if I had known that I probably wouldn’t have read it because that was another author I found only okay. So I give this book a 2/5.

Now onto something lighter I hope. lol I am going to start Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich. :)