Rating: 
Summary: Lost and Confused
Review: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a brave attempt by Stephen King to scare us, and yet touch us, with his harrowing portrayal of a little 9 year old girl who gets lost in the woods. Although he succeeds to some point (Trisha McFarland is a very compelling character) the novel falls short. We really never feel that Trisha is in any sense of danger, and that takes a little away from the suspense of the novel, and what King is trying to do. However, he is, after all, trying to tell a story, a routine one at that, but with a little bit of a twist. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon isn't King's worst novel of which I have read (Misery) but it also isn't his best work and skill of writing. Disappointing, but I think we can forgive Mr. King.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome book!!!
Review: This book was excellent. It was the third book I've read by Mr. King and I was very impressed! Having been lost once in the woods (Eagle River Wisconsin school trip), it scared the h*** out of me, it brought me right back to that personal low point in my life. The thoughts that go through her head, except the Tom Gordon stuff of course are very real. You see everything as a potentially harmful animal in this situation (when it gets dark). I also loved the short "diary" of his son's baseball filled summer at the end. Brought back great memories (football instead for me, but same idea and atmosphere basically, any sports stories grab my attention). Not too long so anyone can finish this in a day, a great book to start with from his library!!
Rating:
Summary: Almost Realistic
Review: I consider this the worst book by King that I've read (please note that I haven't read many bad King books). It was way too short so there was no time to really develop a relationship with the character. I found myself not caring whether or not Trisha lives or dies.I gave it three stars because I think there is potential in the idea. The plot was interesting at first, but King has an inherent tendency to add little supernatural twists to his plots. This story would have been great if he had kept it completely real and possible. The survival techniques of little girls is a fascinating story by itself; King just threw the integrity of that concept away by adding the weird-creepy-following-monster into it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!
Review: Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is, I think, the first Stephen King book I've read. It takes place on the Appalachian Trail. Somehow, King gets into the mind of a small girl who accidentally gets lost in the woods when she goes off the trail to go potty. She keeps walking along the river and gets extremely far from the boundaries of the search party, which has been started for her. What keeps her going is her favorite baseball player, Tom Gordon; she keeps her radio close to listen to his games and wish he were there to help her. King keeps us as scared as the little girl when a creature begins to follow her, and leaves its traces of carnage. She finally begins to lose her mind and really believe Tom Gordon is there with her. You get scared for the little girl just by reading it. "Shadows were too black, and when a breeze stirred the trees, the shadows changed in a disquieting way. Something twitted in the woods, seemed to choke, twitted again, and was silent..."- it keeps you on edge the whole time you're reading it, hoping the girl comes out okay. You don't see too many books out there with this theme, though almost everyone has a "lost" experience as a child. I think this would be a great book from anyone of almost any age, from small children, who can relate to the girl, to teens, to adults.
Rating:
Summary: PAINful
Review: I prefer blood, gore, unfair death, and yes, vampires, spirits, werewolves, Low Men, and Bald Doctors with long Scissors that hate human beings, but this book is still a fair read. For one reason: it was short. If it had been any longer, I would have become bored with it. Maybe Stephen purposely made it short for constant readers like me who expect HORROR and FANTASY. It's about a 9 year old girl named Trisha, who is pitifully neglected by her mother, Miss McFarland, who was too busy arguing with Trisha's brother one day when Miss McFarland decided to take both her children on a walk through some park. "Mom, I need to go peeeeeee!" Trisha whines, but mom has better things to focus on, doesn't she? So, Trisha steps off-road to relieve herself, while her mom and brother walk on, and this is where everything falls apart. (...). A story with a moral, in my opinion, which is unusual for King. I titled this review, 'painful' because when I was sitting in the school Gym waiting for the fitness class to be over about two years ago, reading it, all I felt crawling my skin, was not chills, but BUGS! Blood SUCKING VARMINT! King did a great job bringing this story to life. I was swatting myself as if a school of mosquitoes had landed on an open wound that wasn't mine, but Trisha's. King makes the woods sound like an entity, slowly tearing away what was once a little girl named Trish. I'll never forget this one part when Thrish awoke one morning to find herself in the middle of a circle that had been drawn around her body in the dirt while she had slept yet another night in the woods, as if someTHING owned her, and it was going to take it's sweet time with her, and not kill her in any hurry. But that's as far Stephen goes to make this novel a horror story. You never see the beast--you only hear it in Trisha’s innermost fears. But It DOES exist! Something good to read once. Buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: A new and pleasing side of Stephen King.
Review: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is an almost completely psychological horror story. Stephen King takes you deep inside the mind of an eleven year old girl who has become desperately lost in the appalacian mountains. You will experience her hunger, pain, and thirst. You become witness to the importance she (and all of us humans) place on the familiar in a strange place. Gripping fear sets in slowly with an awareness that something is out there in the woods with you. When I read the reviews of this book it was interesting to note the difference between those who loved it and those who hated it. The interesting part was that there seemed to be no middle ground. I also note that most of the "haters" seemed to be readers who normally like Stephen King's work. It is sad and predictable that this should be the case. While it is true that this novel doesn't include any of the gore which Stephen King has become known for (which is what I suspect dislikers of this book felt was missing), it is a great story, told incredibly well. A novel with true craft, by a true craftsman. That being said, I did have one small gripe with this book. In my opinion, some of the insights of the eleven year old girl were just a little too mature for a child of that age. I found this to be just a bit distracting. Normally, this wouldn't bother me too much - but I was a little annoyed at being distracted from an otherwise truly all engrossing story.
Rating:
Summary: A Frighting Tale Of The Evil The Stalks The Woods.
Review: In my opinion to be one of Kings best. Scary and fast. You won't be disipointed. If you don't like the monstrous King novels this is a great one to start with and make your way up. Yes, there is baseball but the story is mostly about a young girl lost in the woods with a horrific evil following her and leaving clawed trees and dead animals in her path.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible!
Review: Just awful. This book is pretty short for King, but it manages to pack a whole lot of nothing within. It's too short to really develop a feel and sympathy for the characters, yet too long to make a comfortable read, mainly because the bulk of the story takes place in a forest with not much else going on but the paranoid ramblings of a girl who likes baseball. Check it out from the library if you must, but be forwarned.
Rating:
Summary: This book is just bad!!
Review: I like Stephen King. But this book was a waste of my time and money. I wanted to stop reading mid-way because it was so predicable what was going to happen at the end. So many endless pages about the forest/wood. It just dragged, on and on. I have to rate this at 1 star, because I have no other choice. But is should be a -5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Simple, But Quite Entertaining
Review: The Girl Who loved Tom Gordon is not Stephen King's best work. Its not complicated and involved as The Stand, or as bone chilling as The Shining. But It works. The woods are a scary place, and I used to be terrified of them as a kid. The idea of a little heroine with a possibly haunted walkman is a simple formula, not too big on horror, but big on courage and faith; which is another formula used in most of King's books. Trisha joins Dolores Claiborne or Jesse from Gerald's Game in Stephen's heroine against evil club. The baseball stuff was boring, since im not a sports fan, but it did have its purpose, and the ending could have been a little more scarier, because we were expecting a big climax. But it didnt, and it is an enjoyable book nevertheless. Not laying it on too thick, horror tactics this time around were replaced with old fashioned suspense and anxeity, and thats not so bad. A good quick read, worth giving a try.
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