The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

During a six-mile journey on the Maine-New Hampshire section of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland becomes weary of her mother's recent divorce and her elder brother Pete's incessant arguments. However, she finds herself lost in a terrifying and dangerous wilderness labyrinth when she ventures out on her own and then attempts to catch up by taking a shortcut.

As night sets, Trisha's sole protection against the weather is her inventiveness; to face her growing worries, she needs just her bravery and faith. She turns on her Walkman to Boston Red Sox broadcasts and watches the valiant efforts of her idol, relief pitcher Tom Gordon, as a way to find comfort. And when the signal from her radio starts to weaken, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her, shielding her from an adversary that she fears is all too real and has left a path of torn trees and dead animals in the deep, dark woods.