It's the kind of all-American suburb where parents are involved in their children's lives, where no opportunity for enrichment goes unexplored.Tim belongs to the Tabernacle, an evangelical Christian church that doesn't approve of Ruth's style of teaching and makes her the focus of a very public crusade. And Ruth, in turn, doesn't applaud the Tabernacle's mission to take its message outside its doors.

Stonewood lleights is the pertfect place to raise kids. It's got the proverbial good schools, solid values, and a healthy real estate market. It's the kind of all-American suburb where parents are involved in their children's lives, where no opportunity for enrichment goes unexplored.

Ruth Ramsey is the human sexuality teacher at the local high school. She believes that "pleasure is good, shame is bad, and knowledge is power." Ruth's daughter's soccer coach is Tim Mason, a former stoner and rocker whose response to hitting rock bottom was to reach out and be saved. Tim belongs to the Tabernacle, an evangelical Christian church that doesn't approve of Ruth's style of teaching and makes her the focus of a very public crusade. And Ruth, in turn, doesn't applaud the Tabernacle's mission to take its message outside its doors. Adversaries in a small-town culture war, Ruth and Tim instinctively mistrust each other. But when a controversy on the soccer field pushes the two of them to actually talk, they are forced to look beyond their first impressions.

The Abstinence Teacher exposes the powerful emotions that run beneath the surface of modern American life and explores the complex spiritual and sexual lives of ordinary people. Elegantly written, it is characterized by the distinctive mix of satire and compassion that have animated Perrotta's previous novels.