9 year old Trisha McFarlane didn't even have to pee that bad, but she stepped off the trail to relieve herself anyway. The problem is that now she can't find her way back again. Being lost alone in the woods is terrifying enough, but is the thing in the corner of her eyes just another forest animal? Or is there something else out in the woods, too?

I was raised by a horror nut, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was my first foray into the world of Stephen King. At 11 years old, my mother decided that I should be allowed to read one of her favorite author's more benign entries, and I inhaled it. The book itself was fine, but what it represented was much more important. This was my right of passage; this was my self-perceived acceptance into adulthood. This was me being beckoned away from Animorphs and Goosebumps into more mature literature. Oh, and don't worry, most of the obscenities went straight over my head.

Stephen King is a very polarizing author for many, and his tone can either directly make or break many of his publications. The longer The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon goes on, the more Stephen King hits his stride; the decisions made by a 9 year old protagonist should be frustrating, and King himself is apt to point out her mistakes. The forest imagery that King depicts is frightening in its own right, and we are left to our own devices to decipher what is real, and what is skewed through the lens of a scared 9 year old girl.

If you've read Stephen King before, you will know what to expect. If you like Stephen King's work, chances are you will like this book. I will always look fondly upon The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but perhaps admittedly more for what it represented to me rather than for a chilling walk through the woods.