I am not a Stephen King fan. Though I follow this with saying that I really enjoyed The Eye of the Dragon, a fantasy published in 1987. When a friend suggested that I read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, I resisted. But I gave in eventually...Trisha is 9-years-old. She has one brother, Pete, aged 14, and her parents are divorced. Her mom has moved Trisha and Pete to Maine, and Pete is being a teenaged pain about it. He and Mom argue constantly. Trisha feels like her parents might as well have stayed married, since the arguing around the house hasn't decreased at all, just changed players. Arguing is what Mom and Pete were doing when Trisha went off the hiking trail to find a private place to use the bathroom. And they kept arguing long after Trisha realized that she was lost. As night fell she thought she felt something watching her. Over the course of the next few days she found traces of whatever was watching. Signs that it was tracking her. Waiting for her fear to ripen her. Waiting for her to stop. But as fever wracks Trish's tiny body; as she dehydrates and starves; she refused to just lie down and give up. She looks to an imaginary Tom Gordon to guide her through the swamps and back to civilization, and to impart the secret of how to close.
This was an entertaining wilderness survival story, and I liked that the main character was a strong female. My only problem was that her vocab, reasoning and decision making was not that of a 9-yr.-old. It would have been a bit more believable if she had been 12 or so. But, all in all, a good read.
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