About this item

From the nationally syndicated cartoonist of "In the Bleachers" comes a new, highly illustrated middle grade series about Steve, who plays the same position in every sport: bench-warmer. Perfect for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Timmy Failure, King of the Bench is an ode to teammates, underdogs, and bench-warmers everywhere.Steve is King of the Bench. No brag. It's just a fact. But this year, Steve and his friends are excited to try out for the Spiro T. Agnew Middle School baseball team. The only problem is, after watching another player get beaned by a fastball, Steve has developed a serious case of bean-o-phobia - the fear of getting hit by a pitch. If Steve ever wants to get off the bench and get in the game, he's going to have to muster up some courage, and fast.Oh, and if you're wondering why Steve would write a book and tell total strangers all about the humiliating phobia that almost ruined his first year on the baseball team? Duh. It's pretty much a rule that you spill your guts when you write a book about yourself.



About the Author

Steve Moore

Steve Moore is a writer, internationally syndicated cartoonist and former news executive for the Los Angeles Times. He grew up in La Canada Flintridge, California. Moore graduated from Oregon State University and completed his masters in Journalism at the University of Oregon.

While working as sports editor at The Maui News in Hawaii, he created the comic "In the Bleachers." Soon after, Moore moved to The Times where he worked in sports, news and features. He served as Exec. News Editor on reporting teams that won Pulitzers for breaking news in 1992 and again in 1994. Moore resigned from The Times in order to focus on the syndicated comic and to work in entertainment.

"In the Bleachers," distributed by Universal Uclick, appears in hundreds of newspapers and websites worldwide.

Moore currently is writing a series of four middle-school "novels with cartoons" for HarperCollins titled "King of the Bench." The first book publishes March 29, 2017.

Moore co-created and wrote the original story for "Open Season" (2006,) the first CG film by Sony Pictures Animation. He served as Exec. Producer. The movie was based on the humor of "In the Bleachers" and featured the voices of Ashton Kutcher, Martin Lawrence, Gary Sinise and Debra Messing. The film grossed nearly $200 million and so far has generated four DVD sequels.

Moore also created the CG animated film "Alpha & Omega" (Lionsgate Films,) which premiered in theaters in 2010. It has generated five DVD sequels with three more in development. Moore wrote the original story, screenplay and served as Producer.

Moore developed and wrote the pilot for an animated TV series based on the children's book "Flat Stanley." Moore also wrote and produced with Disney TV Animation a series of "In the Bleachers" animated shorts that aired on ESPN.

Moore's humor was inspired by his father, Bob, and cartoonists Don Martin, B. Kliban, Gary Larson, Charles Addams and Gahan Wilson. He lives in Idaho with his three children - Jakob, Lauren and Christopher.



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