Amazon.com
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.

Trisha's odyssey succeeds on several levels. King renders her consciousness of increasing peril beautifully, from the "first minnowy flutter of disquiet" in her guts to her into-the-wild tumbles to her descent into hallucinations, the nicest being her beloved Red Sox baseball pitcher Tom Gordon, whose exploits she listens to on her Walkman. The nature writing is accurate, tense, and sometimes lyrical, from the maddening whine of the no-see-um mosquito to the profound obbligato of the "Subaudible" (Trisha's dad's term for nature's intimations of God). Our identification with Trisha deepens as we learn about her loved ones: Dad, a dreamboat whose beer habit could sink him; loving but stubborn Mom; Trisha's best pal, Pepsi Robichaud, vividly evoked by her colorful sayings ("Don't go all GIRLY on me, McFarland!"). The personal associations triggered by a full moon, the running monologue with which she stays sane--we who have been lost in woods will recognize these things.



shauns (USA: NY) (2009/06/26):
this is the first stephen king novel i read, and i really enjoyed it. im hooked on stephen king. i'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.



bowpeep (United Kingdom) (2010/04/04):
Brilliant book, as with most Steven King Novels.

Relatively short novel told from the perspective of a young baseball loving little girl who gets lost in the woods.

Very well played out Novel explaining how she tries to find her way out to civilization and the obstacles she sees finds along the way eg food, water, bugs, Evil creatures that stalk her through the night.

It depicts how she uses her radio and the matches of her favorite team and player "Tom Gordon" to help her survive.

Realistic novel, deals with hallucinations, hungry and water problems and how a person would manage in this situation, and how a person would try to survive until the very end.

Brilliant book.



Maria Asmar (USA: FL) (2011/03/11):
Pretty good! It will surely make me think twice before going into the woods!