The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen KingMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The premise here is quite simple, and frankly a bit mundane. A girl gets lost in the woods because her mother is really stupid and careless, first for going hiking with two kids and then for arguing with her elder son and ignoring her daughter who gets lost because she goes off the path to urinate.
This is in essence a survival story that's saved only by Stephen King's masterful writing and gift for characterization. The "Tom Gordon" of the title is a closing pitcher for the Boston Red Sox whom the girl admires and imagines as her companion on her ordeal. Slight supernatural goings on creep up later in the book, but these may or may not be explained by the girl's distressed state, it's up the reader to decide.
This is really King doing some experimental writing with a single character/single setting story with a lot of internal dialogue. Like most of King's kid character's the girl is way too wise and mature for her age but with a very noble heart. It's also a love story to the game of baseball with all the magic and nostalgia that it evokes for many Americans.
I enjoyed the book, but found there was not much there to the story as it felt like a short story that went on a bit too long.
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