| Little Children takes place during a summer in present day suburbia. Everything looks good on the surface, but as with most suburbs, there is a lot of turmoil going on below the surface. The author, Tom Perotta, shows us the problems of several characters. The most shocking problem going on is that a convicted child molester has moved into the neighborhood. One character, Larry, is particularly obsessed with making sure that the molester does not harm any other children. However, this is not the only plot. Tom and Sarah are both stay at home parents to three year olds. They meet for the first time at the Rayburn School playground and begin an intense affair. Tom is also struggling with the fact that he can't pass the bar exam and really doesn't want to be a lawyer anyway. Sarah is struggling with the fact that she no longer loves her much older husband, and that she has no friends and doesn't know what sort of job she would like to have. Perotta also makes sure that we as readers find out about some of the problems of Tom's and Sarah's spouses too. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1980's-1999 Romance/Romance Problems Yes Kind of romance: Kind of sex: - molestation Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Taboo sex story? Yes Married, fooling around? Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Eccentric/Smart/Dumb: Yes Eccentric: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - below average Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 () United States Yes Small town? Yes Small town people: - hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - licking - actual description of hetero sex - Boob talk! - rape/molest Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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