The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Softcover

King, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340765607 ISBN 13: 9780340765609

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 1999

Synopsis

'The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted. Trisha McFarland discovered this when she was nine years old. Trying not to be terrified. Trying not to think that sometimes when people got lost in the woods they got seriously hurt. Sometimes they died.' In Trisha's panic to get back on the track, she takes turnings which lead her deeper and deeper into the woods. With only a small amount of food and water in her knapsack, she begins to give up hope of ever getting out. Alive. The only thing that keeps her going is her Walkman on which she listens avidly to Red Sox baseball games, creating an imaginary friendship with her hero Tom Gordon. And as she struggles for survival and a way out, she realises she's not alone. There's something else in the woods - and it's watching her...

About this title

Review:

With a convincing mix of youthful optimism and world-weary resignation, reader Anne Heche adds resonance to this unabridged recording. Heche is especially effective as the 9-year-old heroine, Trisha McFarland, who makes a fateful decision during an afternoon hike with her dysfunctional family. "The paths had forked in a 'Y.' She would simply walk across the gap and rejoin the main trail. Piece of cake. There was no chance of getting lost." As one might suspect, there is every chance she'll get lost--or worse--and taking the shortcut turns out to be a very bad choice indeed. At times Heche's reading may be too measured, but her narration is generally quite good and her steady portrayal of a young girl lost renders this tale all the more frightening. (Running time: 6.5 hours, 6 cassettes) --George Laney

From the Back Cover:

On a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror.

As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her -- protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods....

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0340765607
• ISBN 13: 9780340765609
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216