Because King is preoccupied with broad questions such as the nature of Good and Evil and the search for both meaning and identity in the modern world, it is possible to see similarities between The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and many of King's other works. There are also similarities in that so many of King's novels feature children; several point to the wonder and indifference of nature; others have their central characters come to recognize that they cannot wait for others to rescue them. Finally, King has written a number of books in which characters seek for something positive in which to believe and a smaller number in which characters find something in which to believe.

Among the books that feature children are Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, Firestarter, Cujo, The Eyes of the Dragon, The Talisman, and IT. While the child characters in all...