| The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a departure for Stephen King from his usual "creepy monster in the haunted house" driven works of horror and suspense. Here he introduces nine-year old Tricia who is struggling to make sense of the breakup of her parent's marriage. The fractured family of mom, brother and Tricia are on a weekend day-hike in the woods along a popular stretch of the Appalachian Trail near the Maine and New Hampshire border. As mom and brother bitterly argue, Tricia stops to relieve herself just out of sight off the path a dozen yards behind her oblivious family. She thinks she can save time by taking a shorter route back to the path but ends up lost and disoriented. She becomes sopping wet, cut, and bruised as she blazes a trail through the thick underbrush. Eventually she is far away from where anyone would think to look for her. The authorities, called in by her parents, are way off track looking for a child abductor who doesn't exist.
The rest of the book is her story of wilderness survival against the cold and damp nights, hot muggy days, mosquitoes, biting black flies, hunger, and thirst (she has only a little lunch and beverage with her). Fortunately she has her Walkman radio and is able to tune into Red Sox games out of Boston. As her mind starts to give up the will to live, listening to games with Tom Gordon coming in to pitch gives her something to look forward to. Stephen King shows his great talent for crafting suspense, drama, vulnerability, and atmosphere. He also is able to throw you a curveball at the right moment. Tricia begins to detect a shadowy presence along the tree line as well as snapped tree trunks and decapitated deer carcasses. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) Time/era of story: Exploring into the wild Yes Plotlets: - being chased through wilderness Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - a kid Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - natural phenomena Has special powers? Yes Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast Mountains/Cliffs Yes Mountains: - climbing on trails Forest? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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