Review – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Survival
Length: 224 pages
Publisher: Scribner
Release Date: April 6, 1999
ISBN-13: 978-0684867621
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Mother
Rating: 3/5 stars

“The brochure promised a “moderate-to-difficult” six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, where nine-year-old Trisha McFarland was to spend Saturday with her older brother Pete and her recently divorced mother. When she wanders off to escape their constant bickering, then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut through the woods, Trisha strays deeper into a wilderness full of peril and terror. Especially when night falls.

Trisha has only her wits for navigation, only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fear. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox games and the gritty performances of her hero, number thirty-six, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio’s reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her—her key to surviving an enemy known only by the slaughtered animals and mangled trees in its wake.”

This book is about a girl who gets lost in the woods during a family hiking trip. As she struggles to survive her ordeal in the woods she draws strength both from her idol Tom Gordon and from her Walkman that allows her to listen in on her favorite Red Sox games.

I was impressed by the tenacity and skill that Trisha shows surviving in the woods for as long as she does. The story does get a bit slow at points and I kept waiting for something to happen…aside from the normal disasters you would encounter wandering around in the woods. There is also a lot about baseball in here; I am not even anywhere close to being a baseball fan and many of the baseball references were lost on me.

Overall an okay read. If you are interested in survival stories with a very light element of horror to them you might like this. I did enjoy some of the survival elements here and the book is a quick read. I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as some of Stephen King’s other books though.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge