| Plot Summary of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon |
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"Trisha, a young girl, goes on a hike with her mom and brother and after being distracted just for a moment, gets lost in the forest. She hikes and climbs trying to find her way out with only the company of her walkman which she uses to tune into broadcasts of the Boston Red Sox and her favorite player Tom Gordon...the only thing that keeps her sane. She comes to the realization after finding mutilated animals and mangled trees that she is being hunted and this fuels her determination to find her way out of the unending woods."
Julie L., Resident Scholar
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"Little did Tom Gordon know that he would be the inspiration to keep nine year old Trisha alive. She and her family had been hiking the Appalachian Trail when she decided to try a short cut. Much later, her family noticed she was missing and feared she had become the vicitm of a serial kidnapper. Trisha must survive the elements using any means possible. One thing she used was her connection to the outside world, her Walkman. She tuned into the Boston Red Sox game and felt close to her idol Tom Gordon. As time ticked by not only did she loose her radio reception, she saw the butchered animals and feared she may be next. She imagined Tom was with her and had come to save her life."
Tracey Ray, Resident Scholar
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"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. "
David Fletcher, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of 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%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
Exploring into the wild
Yes
Plotlets:
- being chased through wilderness
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a kid
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- natural phenomena
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Forest?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
How many deaths?
- 0 (not a murder mystery)
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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