28th out of 95 books
—
1,566 voters
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
by
Stephen King
Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail. Lost for days, wandering farther and farther astray, Trisha has only her portable radio for comfort. A huge fan of Tom Gordon, a Boston Red Sox relief pitcher, she listens to baseball games and fantasizes that her h...more
Paperback, 264 pages
Published
November 1st 2005
by Pocket Books
(first published January 1st 1999)
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Sep 07, 2011
Lena Hillbrand
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
see review
Shelves:
stephen-king,
audiobooks
I very much enjoyed this story about a nine 'but big for her age' year-old girl who gets lost in the Maine wilderness. For the most part. So let's get down to it.
What I liked: The girl who loved baseball. Yep, that pretty much sums up why I loved this book. I mean, how can you not love a nine-year-old who loves baseball, in large part because she shared it with her absent-through-divorce father. And maybe I'm a little biased because I was a kid who loved basketball, and then baseball, and then...more
What I liked: The girl who loved baseball. Yep, that pretty much sums up why I loved this book. I mean, how can you not love a nine-year-old who loves baseball, in large part because she shared it with her absent-through-divorce father. And maybe I'm a little biased because I was a kid who loved basketball, and then baseball, and then...more
Let me begin by saying I am an ardent Stephen King fan and have been since reading "The Stand" back in 1975. First, I like the genre. Second I believe him to be the best story teller alive on the planet today. That being said, even though I have read nearly everything he has written under any pen name, this is the only review I plan to write for the extensive King library.
What is unique about this book was that it barely stepped into the usual worlds of Stephen King. It is a story about how a...more
What is unique about this book was that it barely stepped into the usual worlds of Stephen King. It is a story about how a...more
Aug 06, 2007
Louise A
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone - especially girls!
Shelves:
greatreads
I love this book. It's one of my favorites of all time. I love Stephen King to begin with, but I think any one - even people who don't like his style or genre typically - would like this book. It's a great, simple story about the power of the human will to survive and the strength of the human spirit - it's bravery, humor, resilience and ingenuity - in the face of great obstacles. It is really a fantastic book for anyone who has, or is, going through a tough time. The plot is very simple - a you...more
Aug 28, 2012
Jane Stewart
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult-adventure-fiction
Engaging, enjoyable, and intriguing about a girl lost and surviving in the woods. Nature is the enemy.
I was reluctant to read this because I feared it might be similar to The Blair Witch Project - being stalked by a supernatural creature, being afraid, and being a victim for most of the story. I was wrong. It’s not like that at all. I’m so pleased. I enjoyed it. I loved Trisha’s attitude. I was intrigued and charmed. Yes she is alone and lost in the woods. But what is interesting are her thought...more
I was reluctant to read this because I feared it might be similar to The Blair Witch Project - being stalked by a supernatural creature, being afraid, and being a victim for most of the story. I was wrong. It’s not like that at all. I’m so pleased. I enjoyed it. I loved Trisha’s attitude. I was intrigued and charmed. Yes she is alone and lost in the woods. But what is interesting are her thought...more
I give this book two and half stars. By now my love of Stephen King can by found throughout these reviews. This book satisfies most of those requirements. Well written. Quick fun read. Well drawn characters. Scary interesting plot. So I guess the reason that it gets two and half stars is the fact that it is more of a short story than a full length novel. There is simply not that much to it—which is my complaint of all character driven short stories. Character driven short stories simply lack the...more
When I decided to read this book, I was looking for a fast easy read. And this book is definitely that. I don’t think it is one of King’s best, but the book seemed to be quite charming. A story told through the eyes of a 9 year old girl can be nothing but that. There really was no scare to the tale, but a whole lot of adventure.
I even found myself giggling from time to time because of the thought process that had to go along with this book. The frame of mind King was in when he was able to deliv...more
I even found myself giggling from time to time because of the thought process that had to go along with this book. The frame of mind King was in when he was able to deliv...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
When nine-year-old Trisha McFarland strays from the a branch of the Appalachian trail, tired of the bickering between her mom and brother, she gets lost in the forest and struggles to survive. As days and hours pass, she runs out of food and starts to hallucinate creatures following her so she looks to her Walkman for comfort. She wanders father and farther astray, determined that the river will lead to civilization while she passes beyond her search party and imagines Tom Gordon, the relief Red...more
'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon' by Stephen King is a real thriller, a pageturner. A girl of only 9 years old went walking with her mother and her brother in an enormous great wood. The young girl had to pee and so she lost her brother and her mother. In her panic to get back to her family, she takes a turning that leads deeper into the wood: she get lost... She had no food or drinks with her. It takes her 5 days to find the inhabitable world.
Feb 14, 2008
Crystal
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Non-Stephen King Fans
Recommended to Crystal by:
My Grandmother (seriously!)
First of all, I need to point out that this book is *nothing* like the standard King lineup. Its a refreshing change of pace for his Constant Reader.
Strangely enough, I think Stephen King felt the same way. There's a passion in the lines of this one that almost makes the words glow on the page.
If I were to recommend a Stephen King book to a "fraidy cat" this would be the one. Its not scary, not even really creepy, although it does have some fairly tense scenes.
You'll love this little girl by t...more
Strangely enough, I think Stephen King felt the same way. There's a passion in the lines of this one that almost makes the words glow on the page.
If I were to recommend a Stephen King book to a "fraidy cat" this would be the one. Its not scary, not even really creepy, although it does have some fairly tense scenes.
You'll love this little girl by t...more
Recommended by my boyfriend
A suggested alternate title:
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Or:
How Little Girls Go Pee In The Woods
Believable, maybe. Scary, not really. Entertaining, you betcha!
My first fiction Stephen King read. I read On Writing some time ago and it was pleasing to see him break his own rules:
"She intoned".
Nobody's perfect.
A suggested alternate title:
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Or:
How Little Girls Go Pee In The Woods
Believable, maybe. Scary, not really. Entertaining, you betcha!
My first fiction Stephen King read. I read On Writing some time ago and it was pleasing to see him break his own rules:
"She intoned".
Nobody's perfect.
Oddly, I felt this story could've survived without the actual supernatural element added to it. It could easily have been passed off as psychology without the final confrontation and variety of dead animals and I don't believe it would have lost anything. Seeing Trisha transform from a little girl to a survivor is quite fascinating and well done. I was actually caught by surprise when the hunter appeared in the chapter "Bottom of the Ninth" despite several times it being mentioned that God doesn...more
This book was okay. I read it over winter break one year in college. It held my interest, and I appreciated all the insider-New England references (1-800-54 GIANT...it's stuck in your head now, isn't it?), but the ending sucked, sucked, sucked. In a way, King was a victim of his own good writing, in that he paced the story well and did such a great job with dramatic build-up that the ending's big reveal couldn't help but disappoint. But goddamn, did it disappoint. Pretty much ruined the whole bo...more
Oct 18, 2008
Melissa
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Stephen King Fans, Horror Fans
Recommended to Melissa by:
Friend
Shelves:
with-reviews,
adult-fiction
My friend wanted to convince me that I could enjoy a Stephen King book. I had read Misery a few years back, and while I could appreciate Stephen King's writing style, the horror genre was not my forte. Finally she told me that I had to read this book before I could make any decisions about liking or not liking Stephen King books.
I have to admit, this one wasn't bad. I did enjoy the book much more than I enjoyed Misery. Would that make me want to go out and read other Stephen King books? No, but...more
I have to admit, this one wasn't bad. I did enjoy the book much more than I enjoyed Misery. Would that make me want to go out and read other Stephen King books? No, but...more
Oct 10, 2011
Kathy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
stephen-king,
read-in-2011
Well, I finally read this book. It took me long enough. And all I can say is Uncle Stevie does it again! He takes a simple scenario and makes you wonder what is real and what isn't? Here you have, 9 year old Tricia McFarland, who's hiking w/ her mom and brother, who loses her way in the woods. Thanks to her spunk, courage and imaginary friend (so to speak) baseball player, Tom Gordon she pushes on. Is she alone in the woods? Or is it just the imagination of a little girl? I wasn't able to put th...more
Sorry Steven King, I either love or will NOT read your books ( REALLY not into horror of any kind), but this book really spoke to me!! Little girl lost in the woods who shows that she need not give in to fear! Need more stories of kids who are survivors and not lost as victims. Whole book is driven by her thoughts and actions only
Great to read a story about a victor instead of a victim!!!! Kids should read this for fun , and to know they DO have the power of survival!!! Conquer fear and use the...more
Great to read a story about a victor instead of a victim!!!! Kids should read this for fun , and to know they DO have the power of survival!!! Conquer fear and use the...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Stephen King is arguably the most renown author today. His work is beyond famous and his story telling is simply grand.Though I find no pleasure in reading, I was content with spending my time reading this novel.
Trisha is a nine year old girl, though she seems drastically mature and wise beyond her years. The constant bickering between her mother and older brother Pete have been gnawing away at her for months and now the three of them are going on a hiking trip to get some quality bonding time...more
Trisha is a nine year old girl, though she seems drastically mature and wise beyond her years. The constant bickering between her mother and older brother Pete have been gnawing away at her for months and now the three of them are going on a hiking trip to get some quality bonding time...more
Stephen King ist einer meiner Lieblingsautoren. Das liegt wohl daran, dass ich bei ihm immer weiß, dass ich ein gutes Buch lese, egal welches ich auswähle. Er schafft es jedes Mal mich auf eine Reise mitzunehmen und mir etwas neues beizubringen. Daher, und wegen seinem wunderbaren, flüssigen Schreibstil, lese ich seine Werke gern zwischen schwereren Werken von anderen Autoren.
Hierbei geht es um ein Mädchen, das sich auf einer Wanderung in der Wildnis verirrt und so auf sich allein gestellt ist....more
Hierbei geht es um ein Mädchen, das sich auf einer Wanderung in der Wildnis verirrt und so auf sich allein gestellt ist....more
First, let it be known that I am a very bias fanatic of Stephen King. I'll never forget the first time I read The Shining when I was eleven (yes, eleven. I know, I was weird). It was by far the scariest thing I'd ever read/imagined/heard of/saw! It gave me nightmares for weeks! As I grew up, my Sci-fi fanatic mother and I watched countless Stephen King movies (Cujo, The Shining, IT, Rose Red, Carrie, etc.) and I would read the books to continue scaring myself. (I don't really know why I do this)...more
SUMMARY:
Trisha McFarland is a plucky 9-year-old hiking with her brother and mom, who is grimly determined to give the kids a good time on their weekends together. Trisha's mom is recently divorced, and her brother is feuding with her for moving from Boston to small-town Maine, where classmates razz him. Trisha steps off the trail for a pee and a respite from the bickering. And gets lost.
Trisha's odyssey succeeds on several levels. King renders her consciousness of increasing peril beautifully,...more
Trisha McFarland is a plucky 9-year-old hiking with her brother and mom, who is grimly determined to give the kids a good time on their weekends together. Trisha's mom is recently divorced, and her brother is feuding with her for moving from Boston to small-town Maine, where classmates razz him. Trisha steps off the trail for a pee and a respite from the bickering. And gets lost.
Trisha's odyssey succeeds on several levels. King renders her consciousness of increasing peril beautifully,...more
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King is a stalemate in the consideration of overall quality literature. I say this because when you consider all of its strengths and weaknesses, it isn’t tasteless, neither is it enthralling and captivating, it’s just average. There are many contributing factors that make this story an enjoyable read at some times, but tedious and annoying during others.
The main character, Trisha, is a rambunctious nine year old who can only be as good as Stephen King ma...more
The main character, Trisha, is a rambunctious nine year old who can only be as good as Stephen King ma...more
“The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon” is a wonderful example of how Stephen King can take something as simple as a hike and make it every person’s own private nightmare.
When 9 year-old Trisha goes with her mom and brother for a brief hike on the Appalachian Trail in Maine, her brief bathroom break becomes the thing of nightmares when she tries to take a shortcut off the path to get back to her mom and brother. Unfortunately for Trisha, her “shortcut” takes her deep into the woods leaving her alone an...more
When 9 year-old Trisha goes with her mom and brother for a brief hike on the Appalachian Trail in Maine, her brief bathroom break becomes the thing of nightmares when she tries to take a shortcut off the path to get back to her mom and brother. Unfortunately for Trisha, her “shortcut” takes her deep into the woods leaving her alone an...more
This is really fun! I read this while I was camping, and let me tell you, it was a pretty intense experience. If you haven't read this yet, I highly recommend you try and save it for when you can get outdoors. It's one of the shorter King works, but the book is taught and a survivalist page-turner.
Young Trisha MacFarlane does what every innocent hiker thinks is natural when out walking in the woods and faced with an intense urge to pee: she wanders just a little off the trail for a just a coupl...more
Young Trisha MacFarlane does what every innocent hiker thinks is natural when out walking in the woods and faced with an intense urge to pee: she wanders just a little off the trail for a just a coupl...more
A little girl goes off the trail to go the bathroom in privacy and ends up in a disorienting odyssey trying to find her way back to the path--and civilization. To keep her spirits, she listens to Boston Red Sox games, particularly her favorite closer, Tom Gordon on her Walkman. At least as long as her batteries stay alive.
Mr. King loves the Red Sox almost as much as he loves telling spooky stories, there's simply no missing that passion in this tale. What hurts this one, like some of King's othe...more
Mr. King loves the Red Sox almost as much as he loves telling spooky stories, there's simply no missing that passion in this tale. What hurts this one, like some of King's othe...more
This is at least my third time reading The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but the first in about a decade. I’m staggered by how well it’s held up, and how it holds for the same reason it clicked back then. Patricia MacFarland’s tale of getting lost in the wilderness and seeking survival and civilization isn’t special until you add King’s human element. Trisha is what sells this book, not her plight.
One of King’s greatest strengths is to make things you’ve never experienced feel familiar. Here Trisha...more
One of King’s greatest strengths is to make things you’ve never experienced feel familiar. Here Trisha...more
i´ve only recently begun exploring Kings body of work again, after finding alot of his storys to have too much religious subtext and or good vs evil elements.
this story caught my eye, simply because its an origional concept.
first off, and perhaps most importantly, this story is HORRIFIC in its brutality and descriptions of the trials and hardships a young (9 yr old) girl goes through when she becomes lost in the forests.it is not for people who take offense or get upset by children facing horror...more
this story caught my eye, simply because its an origional concept.
first off, and perhaps most importantly, this story is HORRIFIC in its brutality and descriptions of the trials and hardships a young (9 yr old) girl goes through when she becomes lost in the forests.it is not for people who take offense or get upset by children facing horror...more
Stephen King has the spectacular ability of taking our deep seated fears and turning them into our worst nightmares. With “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” he has done it again.
Have you ever gone hiking and went off trail to do your business without your hiking companions knowing where you were or what you were doing? Did you ever imagine that you could get lost even a few yards away from a well-traveled trail? Now imagine if you were a 9-year-old girl. Perhaps you have had a little wilderness tra...more
Have you ever gone hiking and went off trail to do your business without your hiking companions knowing where you were or what you were doing? Did you ever imagine that you could get lost even a few yards away from a well-traveled trail? Now imagine if you were a 9-year-old girl. Perhaps you have had a little wilderness tra...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class of 2014: book review | 2 | 4 | Jun 11, 2013 09:34am | |
| Stephen King Fans: Mr King's most under-rated novels | 72 | 152 | Apr 11, 2013 09:31am | |
| Stephen King Fans: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon | 20 | 179 | Dec 07, 2012 09:08am |
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more
More about Stephen King...
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more
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