The Abstinence Teacher (edit title)

• Rated 4 stars

“Not the greatest book, but very well written and addictive. It was hard to put down!”

• Rated 4 stars

“I think it was well written and interesting. Very much the same feel as Little Children.”

• Rated 3 stars

“3.5 stars actually. An easy read, well written. Not as complex or gripping as Little Children, but still worth one's while. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“This is a very fun book. It's nothing particularly deep but it's a real page-turner and kept my interest 100%. I saw that a few people complained of the two dimensional characters but I found the characters compelling and about as complex as I'd want in a book of this sort. I read Election many years ago and I'm finding I like the loose, bouncy style of Perotta's books. I'm looking forward to reading more from him.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Keeps your interest. Good summer read.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I liked the story and I sided with Ruth on most of the issues, even though I consider myself to be conservative, and it was a lesson in tolerance, for both sides. But these were complex agruments, no one's right, no one's wrong, and I feel the ending was wrapped up too quickly for such complex issues. And I don't think you can even hint at happy endings with these kind of issues, feelings run very deep for both sides and meeting in the middle isn't very easy.”

• Rated 2 stars

“This is a quick read and can be enjoyable. I felt the author had already made up his mind about the characters and so some come across as one-dimensional. I felt it would have been more interesting if the characters on the “other side” were more fully developed in order to seem like real people. I thought the recovery component was accurate and well done. I am not sure I want my kids to have “health” teachers like this!”

• Rated 0 stars

“Bleh! This had so many chances to be a good book, but missed them all. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“I was looking forward to this book because it was on the NY Times Notable Book list for 2007 and because I have liked the author's books in the past. Unfortunately I was disappointed. The story meandered and never really reached a resolution. The characters did not seem to grow at all throughout. It was a very quick read, though. I would recommend reading Little Children or Joe College before this book, however.”