The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Trisha McFarland is a plucky 9-year-old hiking with her brother and mom, who is grimly determined to give the kids a good time on their weekends together. Trisha's mom is recently divorced, and her brother is feuding with her for moving from Boston to small-town Maine, where classmates razz him. Trisha steps off the trail for a pee and a respite from the bickering. And gets lost.

As the hours turn to days, Trisha comes to the realization that something else is in the woods with her, too. She doesn't have a name for it, but she begins thinking of it as "the thing" in the woods and later knows it as The God of the Lost. Little by little, Trisha slips between reality and the dark place.

Soon the barrier between reality and hallucination is gone, and Tom Gordon becomes not just an idle fantasy to pass the time, but a "real" person helping her through this nightmare. Tom gives her the strength she needs and comes to her when everything is all but lost. Through it all, Trisha tries desperately to discover what she believes and what she can believe in.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon may never be considered King's best (or best selling) novel, but it is intimate and inviting. There is no real horror, but it is a compelling tale wonderfully told.