Rating: 
Summary: A little twisted but a good book
Review: This book does not stay the course that it starts it with.We have a group of women who frequently get together at the park/playground so that there children can play and they can discuss the highlights and lowlights on subjects dealing mostly with there children as anybody who has kids knows that we do such as grand subjects like potty training.There is quite a cast of characters with two from the moms group.One being Mary Ann who was the cheerleader in high school type who now has what appears as the perfect marriage,she is the one who at least in her mind can do no wrong the socalled stereotypical suv driving yuppie mother.Then you have Sara who in high school and even now is kind of an outcast(with the moms group) she also is dealing with a husband who is addicted to the internet.
Another of the main characters Is Todd who brings his son to the same playground as the moms group they have labeled him the Prom King he is the good looking jock in his college days who now is a stay at home father that is trying for the third time to pass the bar exam.
One of the paths that really develops the story is when Sara is bet 5 dollars that she cannot get the prom kings phone number.Well she gets that and alot more as what starts as kiss that shocks the moms group turns into an affair
The story takes another line with how these families and there communitiy deal with the sudden appearence of a sex offender who has been released from prison and comes to stay with his mother. I say this story is a little twisted in the parts dealing with the affair and the sex offender i thought it would follow more with dealing with the children . This was a great book no matter what.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: A brilliant look at suburbia, Tom Perrotta's "Little Children" is on the same level as Jackson McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood" or "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." While all three books deal with oddities of life, "Little Children" is by far the most effective, combing a unique voice and unusual subject into one of the most riveting novels to come out in a long time. This is one book you don't want to skip.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing, simply amazing . . .
Review: This brillitant, well-written, and insightful look into the human heart (or lack thereof) is one of two great books that I've recently come across. The other was Jackson McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. Both books are excellent and unusual (they actually make sense and "go" somewhere), but of the two, LITTLE CHILDREN was my favorite. What is so ingenious about Perrotta's book is that he shows us some really horrible people, yet somehow manages to get us to hang in there and keep reading about them--not an easy thing to do. This book is a real eye-opener and is not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing characters, sharp wit
Review: With "Little Children," Tom Perrotta does a nice job of creating characters that drive the story, rather than vice-versa. If you're tired of plot-driven novels with thin, and often cliché, characters, then you're likely to dig this one. If you're into writers like Perrotta, Anne Tyler, Zoe Heller, etc., then there's a new writer you should check out: Greg Ippolito. His new novel, "Zero Station," is absolutely terrific, and an excerpt is available online for FREE. He's still a relative unknown (a friend turned me onto his work)...but this is a must-read... Don't miss it!
Rating: 
Summary: Spot-on satire, disappointing ending
Review: This book is a wonderful satire of suburban parenthood. As a suburban dad, I can tell you that virtually everything descriptive in the book rings true. However, it is not without flaws. First, the ending is contrived and disappointing; it doesn't have the satisfying payoff I expected from the excellent setups. Truth is, this is a book about suburbia more than it is about the individual parents and their marital issues; perhaps, therefore, there was no real way to wrap the book up--the plot might be complete, but suburbia lives forever. Second, as is the case with many satiric novels, many of the characters are rather one-dimensional. In the end, the book is a quick and enjoyable read. You might find yourself (as I did) shifting uncomfortably as you realize that Perrotta is lovingly skewering your own lifestyle with devastatingly simple prose and sharp wit. Personally, I enjoyed the descriptive passages more than the plotline(s), but I was never bored and was always interested in reading further.
Rating:
Summary: Really good book BUT....
Review: I enjoyed Little Children. How couldn't you with a name so sweet as that. The characters are complex, damaged, imperfect in so many ways that we are able to see ourselves in them. Their scnenarios are those that are faced every day, yet their decisions are what haunt us a the reader. Here is the "But". This book reminded me an awful lot of American Beauty. In fact, it reminded me of a lot of books/movies I have seen/read. There are definitely major differences between Little Children and those others, but not really enough to merit five stars, in my opinnion, because I think Perrotta could have steered a little more away from those scenarios then he did. I suggest Lucky Monkeys In The Sky in addition to this novel (or maybe instead of if you want to save the money). The characters are just as (probably more) exceptional, and the plot is truly something that has never, in my vast experience/knowlegde of literature, even come close to before. Whatever you do, read. There is nothing better.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Superb
Review: Tom Perrotta's Little Children is, in a lot of ways, much like those cheese goldfish on the cover of the novel--addictive and easy to swallow. Unlike the goldfish, however, Little Children also contemplates larger issues. Perrotta is a master. Little Children is funny (laugh-out-loud at certain points), engaging, compelling while also being thought-provoking. I finished this book over two weeks ago, yet the characters and their decisions in the novel still haunt me. The main characters, Sarah and Todd, are two thirty-something suburban parents who are, for varying reasons, unhappy with their lives. Todd and Sarah meet at a town playground and from there, the relationship develops and pretty much serves as the unifying thread throughout the novel. Perrotta manages to create well-rounded, flawed characters with a sympathetic eye. We can somehow forgive them for their flaws and mistakes because we can understand why they do what they do. Little Children is truly an enjoyable and satisfying read--a rare thing. The ending is terrific. I thought there were one of two things that could happen at the end, and I wasn't sure which I preferred. Perrotta had a different idea and took the characters in another direction (a believable one) entirely. I recommend this novel very highly.
Rating:
Summary: Kids See the Darnedest Things
Review: I've enjoyed Perrotta's other books over the years, but nothing he has written in the past could have prepared me for "Little Children", a fine, fine novel. In spare, wry prose he has given us a comedy of resentment, a book that should be put in a time capsule to explain our self-important, self-absorbed society'but only after it's read and passed on to at least a couple of friends. Perrotta's keen eye, sensitivity to withering detail and, conversely, his generosity of spirit are all in evidence, as in all his other books. But in "Little Children", his 30ish mommies and daddies are haunted by the vague sense that accomodations made a long time ago have taken them off the happy 'not to mention fast'track. They are victims of resume interruptus'and that has them feeling unhinged. I read the review in the Sunday Times and, while I shared the reviewer's high opinion of Perrotta's effort, I though the Cheever comparison wasn't quite right. The author I thought of us I read "Little Children" was Iris Murdoch, in that wonderful period in her career that saw books like "A Fairly Honourable Defeat", "The Black Prince" and "A Word Child". Novels that potray our folly unflinchingly, but also allow for moments of understanding, grace and renewal. Which is good, because in the end, someone's still got to pay the bills.
Rating:
Summary: Arrested Development
Review: I thought the book accurately captured the arrested development of young adulthood. Ironically, even though the characters had moved into the married with young kids phase of suburbia, that did not necessarily mean they had gained the adult maturity to deal with their situations and relationships. The metaphor of the playground as the introduction to children's socialization, is pivotal in the adult's socialization as well. Perrotta's style of writing, jumping from one storyline to another just when you were wondering what had become of previous characters, kept the pace of the book moving briskly. I found the book a somewhat sad commentary of suburbia, but suspenseful enough that I could not put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Coming soon to a theater near you...
Review: Loved it -- well written, well paced, highly recommend. Would make a great movie.
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