Do you know where your children are?
By Brittany Muller
IV Leader Staff, April 12, 2007
As the temperature rises and the sun sets later into the
evening, reading becomes a relaxing activity to enjoy while experiencing warm
Spring nights. Before summer approaches, it might be a good idea to line up a
bunch of beach reads now. Beach reads are always simple, slightly humorous, and
dangerously engaging. Perhaps beach reads are a perfect cure to idle summer
nights.
After recently reading “Little Children” by Tom Perrotta, I
found myself noticing parks, families, and children differently. Have you ever
walked in your neighborhood, looked at the houses, and wondered if the people
inside them were happy? Classic suburbia has always baffled me.
What are the secrets? Who is hiding what? “Little Children”
is a novel about a bunch of small families that live in a town, forced to
interact with each other. What makes this story interesting is a recently
released convicted child molester, a selfish affair, and role reversals of the
typical nuclear family. Perhaps the plot of the novel could easily be recreated
as a Lifetime special, but the writing is descriptive, unique, and incredibly
witty.
I am usually skeptical at the critic’s reviews on the cover
of novels, but The New York Times Book Review was correct when it claimed
“Little Children” to be “a wicked joy…bracingly tender…and ruefully funny.”
“Little Children” will make the reader wonder about its own neighborhood. The
mothers at the parks may have secrets as well and the fathers in their offices
may be more interesting than expected.
Enlightening and well written, “Little Children” is a fun and
entertaining novel about classic suburbia.