A book review from The Movie Snob:

Little Children, by Tom Perrota (St. Martin’s Press 2004). The Movie Snob does not read much fiction, but he decided to give this one a try after seeing a good review in a magazine and learning that author Perrota also wrote the novel on which the wickedly dark movie Election was based. It didn’t hurt that most of the main characters are people that the Snob can relate to: in their early 30’s, college-educated, feeling some Gen-X dissatisfaction with their suburban lives, and perhaps a little confused about how they have ended up where they are. The main action of the story involves an adulterous affair between two stay-at-home parents, Sarah and Todd, who meet at a playground while they are watching their very small children play. Todd is an affable cad who has failed the Massachusetts bar exam a couple of times, while Sarah is an equally directionless grad school dropout. The story generates some real suspense by the end, partially because of a subplot involving a convicted sex offender who has moved into the neighborhood, and partially because you just want to know how the affair is going to turn out. All in all, I liked this novel quite a bit for its realistic characters, believable dialogue, and consistently good writing throughout.