The master of suburban angst strikes again, and this time not even Jesus is safe. Tom Perrotta, author and adapter-to-film of Election and Little Children , often begins his novels in places where the streets and the houses all look the same and the people enjoy comfortable lives — until something breaks through the white picket fences to make them fight for a cause greater than themselves. In The Abstinence Teacher, it's not a high-school class election or the neighborhood pedophile tearing a community apart, but something much murkier and even more controversial — religion.

Ruth Ramsey teaches high-school "health class" (as she calls it in polite conversation), otherwise known as sex ed. Teaching this taboo subject already puts her in the awkward position of having to frankly discuss the provocative subject of sex with a bunch of hormonal, frequently immature teenagers. When the school administration joins forces with a Christian watchdog group to promote abstinence-only education, however, Ruth is forced to teach a new, limited curriculum that she does not support. To make matters worse, she catches her daughter's born-again soccer coach, Tim, leading the entire team in post-game prayer. Suddenly the only man her pre-teen daughters want to talk about is Jesus. Ruth becomes tangled up with Tim as they clash and find themselves magnetically attracted to each other — a situation further complicated by the contradictions of his rock-star, hard-living past and his fervently religious present.

Perrotta's true literary talents lie in his ability to seamlessly weave several characters' stories together, getting inside each of their psyches without being heavy-handed. Ruth and Tim are not merely representatives of opposing sides in a separation of church and state debate; Perotta delves into their lives with curiosity, understanding, and compassion, as they struggle to keep their personal and professional beliefs separate. The Abstinence Teacher accomplishes what many politicians wish they could achieve: it's lively and entertaining while also remaining impartial.

-Diana Metzger