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The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta

September 30, 2008 by Darlene

The Abstinence Teacher is about families and their lives and struggles in modern day America.

This novel covers a huge scope ranging from what’s right and wrong, what you believe in and what you don’t, and what your religion means to you and how far you might go to defend it. We visit what it is to be a single parent, how divorce can affect a family, and how addiction can rule your life even in recovery.

The characters in this novel draw you into their lives, some more than others. For me, I really liked Ruth who is a high school Sex Ed teacher struggling with teaching a new program of abstinence to her students. It’s made difficult for her because you can’t properly teach what you don’t believe in. For Ruth, she believes in being as honest and truthful with her students as she can-to make sure they’re prepared for the real world. Her issues in class start because of students that belong to a new church group in the area bringing up concerns with her teaching style. She’s then forced into this new curriculum and she’s angry. Then we’ve got Tim, a man who used to be into drugs and alcohol but who has turned his life over to God to be saved. He is also one of the soccer coaches for Ruth’s young daughter Maggie. Tim’s character is very likeable because the author takes you through the struggles Tim had to get to where he is and how now God helps him hold it together even though Tim is beginning to question his faith a bit-he’s a very real character.

The event that sets things off is when Tim brings prayer to the playing field. After a game when his daughter is hurt and Tim is just grateful she’s ok, he’s overwhelmed and starts to pray with the girls. Ruth, not believing in God, is extremely horrified and angry. She tells him he has no right to do that with her daughter and proceeds to try to get Tim removed from the team. However, they meet to talk and somehow a spark of friendship begins to grow between them.

I did enjoy this book and it kept my interest. For fans of Tom Perrotta I’m sure they’ll love it. It’s a good, easy read. It touches on a lot of touchy subjects and I did appreciate the way the author handles this.

You can read more about the book and purchase it here. The trade paperback was released today by Random House Canada. You can also visit Tom Perrotta’s website here.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shana @ Literarily says

    October 1, 2008 at 3:22 am

    I’ve heard good and bad about this book.

    I would like to read it though because I was raised in (and eventually left) a very fundamentalist religion which has left me with such conficted feelings about religion and God and even spirituality.

    The abstinence issue is all too familiar. I’d love to read Perrotta’s fictional take on it.

  2. Dar says

    October 1, 2008 at 3:48 am

    Shana, I do think with your upbringing this probably would interest you. The children in this story were conflicted because they just didn’t know who to please-I felt sorry for them. You know what I’ll send this one off to you. I haven’t mailed your package yet so I’ll open it up and stick that one in.

  3. S. Krishna says

    October 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    This book REALLY interested me when it first came out – I got it, then promptly forgot about it. I’ll have to dig it out of whatever pile it’s been at the bottom of and get to reading it!

  4. J. Kaye Oldner says

    October 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    Love books like this that are heavy with realism.

  5. Dar says

    October 1, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    Swapna, that happens to me with so many books. I’d be curious to see what you think of it.

    J.Kaye, this one has quite a bit of that. He did touch on subjects that are touchy in a good way-not really ruffling anyone-I liked that.

  6. Alea says

    October 1, 2008 at 5:38 pm

    Yeah I definitely want to read this book. I don’t think anyone should push beliefs on anyone else but it’s hard when it comes to school and children. What’s ok and what isn’t.

  7. Dar says

    October 1, 2008 at 7:17 pm

    I agree Alea. Kids are curious about what’s going on around them and I think want to learn and make their own decisions. I don’t think most of them have that chance though. The book touches on that.

  8. Trish says

    October 4, 2008 at 10:05 pm

    I’m not familiar with this author but it sounds like an interesting book. I like an author who can really create “real” characters.

  9. Dar says

    October 5, 2008 at 6:59 pm

    I wasn’t familiar with this author either Trish. I would probably read another of his-there is one called Little Children I believe that’s supposed to be quite good.

  10. Trish says

    October 5, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    Oh ya–my sister read Little Children a few months back. She liked it but mentioned it was pretty dysfunctional.

  11. Dar says

    October 5, 2008 at 8:17 pm

    Trish, I have the feeling that might be the style of his writing-he tackles dysfunctional happenings in families.

  12. Anna says

    October 9, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    After reading Augusten Burroughs’ Running With Scissors..let’s just say I don’t think else anything in the realm of dysfunction will disturb me as much as that book did.

    This sounds like an interesting book though. Definitely a controversial topic, and I think it would be interesting to see how the author handles it in the end.

    Great review!

    –Anna
    http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com

  13. Dar says

    October 10, 2008 at 1:56 am

    Thanks Anna and I absolutely agree. Running with Scissors was disturbing. There was another set of books about a little boy that was disturbing but the name isn’t coming to me. This book isn’t anything at all like those, thank goodness.

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