King of the Bench: No Fear! audiobook

Little League days are over and Steve now has to try out for the team if he wants to keep playing baseball. Trouble is that Steve spent most of his Little League days sitting the bench which is not ideal when trying to make a team. Then there is an incident that leads to Steve's Bean-o-phobia (feared of getting hit by the ball). Can Steve make the team even just to be a bench warmer?Filled with humor and drawings this is great for sports fans and bench sitters. Good for kids who like the Diary of a Wimpy kid series ages 9 and up.

Funny, Sly, Wise, and Big-HeartedNot to get too gushy or to exaggerate but, "no brag. Just a fact", this is a nearly perfect middle grade book. The set up appears simple enough. Steve and his two pals just barely make the school baseball team. At the beginning of the season one player gets his nose smashed by a pitch, and Steve, who watched it happen, develops Bean-O-Phobia. He now fears pitched balls. Since Steve spends most games on the bench he is called upon only infrequently to actually bat, but when he does bat he is frozen by fear and does terribly. Naturally, in the big end of the season championship game he is called upon to bat in a critical situation. Seems pretty predictable, if not downright clichéd, right? Well wait. The author, Steve Moore, does everything right, never sounds a single false or off note, and does something fresh with the setup. (And even the drawings are smack on the money.)First off, our hero Steve is a hoot. Moore pulls off the very difficult job of making the hero smart, funny and observant, as well as articulate and insightful, while still having him come across as a sometimes goofy and totally realistic and relatable middle grade kid. I've read a lot of books with middle grade heroes who think and speak like adults, and I've read even more books with middle grade heroes who are manic and oblivious, but it's awfully rare to get a hero who does double duty so well. With a kid like this at the center of a book, you are already halfway home. (Note the baseball metaphor there.)On top of that we get some twists and turns in the story, (NO SPOILERS HERE), that confound one's expectations but lead to a happy, instructive and upbeat conclusion for everybody. The bench-sitting, the Bean-O-Phobia, the teasing from the jocks, the 0-for-100 batting, and the last inning hero challenge all get resolved in a satisfying, amusing, and right-feeling way. But even if you put that aside, there's something else going on. This book excels at three other things that I very much admire, and that you don't find that often. First, the author slips in a lot of one and two sentence asides and throwaway lines that are just funny, observant or touching on their own and only tangentially related to the plot. Just odd bits of description or passing opinions. Second, the author is great at mini-scenes that contribute to the story but aren't necessary. Steve's discussion of Dad-fear, when Dads show up at games. Or Steve's description of how weird his school feels and sounds because all of the floors are carpeted. Or Steve's description of the odd behavior of the fans when he plays a team from a snooty private school. And so on. None of this is essential to the plot, but it adds depth, rhythm and richness to the book, (something often missing from middle grade sports humor). Finally, there is funny stuff that's totally over the head of any middle grade reader and is there for older kids and parents, (like the Muppet movies can be). For example, the names of the schools Steve's team plays are a riot. So, I could go on, but the bottom line is that this is a sweet, funny, wryly observant and upbeat middle grade story of the first order, and a swell find. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I got this book when I was on vacation just for some temporary reading material. I opened the book and I loved it. I can also relate to it in some way because I play baseball. The book was so interesting because I can see what life is like through the eyes of someone else my age. He had a problem in this book that I also partly deal with playing baseball myself. He also gets help from his dad which I think is super cool. Him and his dad are also going against the boys mom who doesn't want her son playing sports.It is a really good book and I recommend it to any one looking for a sports book.

I've noticed that lately I've been giving top ratings to hilarious, reluctant reader books with over-the- top sarcasm and mega loads of illustrations. The kids who gravitate to these books aren't ones you would call academic, but I've always thought quick-witted people are super smart. It takes intelligence to draw connections between two things, which humor writers do constantly. Newbery winners do this too, but in a more subtle, natural, figurative kind of way. King of the Bench is hilarious. Steve has no athletic ability, but he wants to make his dad happy, so he tries out for his school's baseball team. The Spiro T. Agnew Middle School Plumbers. Humor books are famous for tangents and Steve frequently goes off on tangents to explain things like the fact that his school is named after a vice-president who was forced to resign or that his coach is always digging wax out of his ear, thus the nickname Coach Earwax. Steve's problem begins when a kid gets beaned on the nose at tryouts and blood gushes everywhere. Steve makes the team, but now he's afraid of getting beaned at bat, so the coach benches him. Steve is ok with this. His dad is proud, and he doesn't have to worry about making a fool of himself. Of course, sports books always have their redemption moment, and Steve will get his chance to redeem himself whether he wants to or not.This book will be a hit with kids who like Big Nate type books and play sports. There are more books coming out in this series and I plan to buy them all.

Steve is a pretty good athlete. He plays both basketball and baseball, but currently he’s a bench warmer. During baseball tryouts a wild pitch hit a batter in the face, and now Steve has Bean-o-Phobia, the fear of getting hit by the ball. Even though he made the team, he spends every game sitting on the bench unless his team is about 100 points ahead. He dives from the ball, he throws his bat at the ball, it’s a disgrace. Now, with no hits at all for the whole season, he may be the first player in Spiro T. Agnew Middle School to earn a goose egg (a zero batting average). This is a funny, quick read. Steve is charming and hilarious and the book is full of pictures (ala Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and middle school boy humor. The book spine says it is vol. 1, so leave room on your shelves for a series! Cross-posted to http://kissthebook.blogsopt.com CHECK IT OUT!

There is this boy.thinking this might be a good year.but wait till he gets to school for tryouts! He is like the observer of the field when he’s out. Just wait an see what the king of the bench could be! Read more to find out what happens next! I love this book! I really like how the author puts himself in his younger selfs shoes. I really recommend this book!

I laughed out loud.

This book is like diary of a wimpy kid but better. The main character wants to play baseball but the coach wont let him. So he tries to prove to the coach that he can play.

This book was a little bit stupid because it jumped around a lot and it was confusing.

good

Excellent book. Good for light reading. Love the positivity of the character.

What this book is about:Steve is the king of the bench, a literal bench warmer, and he doesn’t want to brag, it’s just a fact. Written in the first person, Steve shares his challenges as he develops a severe phobia of going up to bat after a ball hits his friend in the schnoz! He also narrates his life which is filled with quirky friends, supportive parents and a championship game on the line.Why I love this book:This is a fun illustrated novel with plenty of hilarious graphics to accompany a clever text. Steve is self aware and absolutely average which makes him incredibly likable.I love that Steve and his friends make the team despite a disastrous tryout and megger game play performance in general. They are certainly not the hot shots, but they relish their roles.Nice girl character Becky who is a team player and a great athlete.Who this book is for:Great for kids who love baseball. This book is actually delves into the game quite a bit. Perfect for fans of illustrated novels such as Timmy Failure.Final thoughts:Nice new entrant into the illustrated novel category.

At first, this book moved way to slow for my liking. So I put it down and came back to it with my daughter. We decided to read it together and I’m glad we did. This book had us laughing at moments and had us pulled in pretty quickly. I think this book will appeal to the young and older reader alike. It's a must read for any middle grade student.

Steve is not a natural athlete, and plays mainly to make his father happy. He's always warming the bench, but surprisingly makes his middle school baseball team. He's fairly happy to be playing for the Spiro T. Agnew Mighty Plumbers-- even if he never gets up to bat, he gets to hang out with his teammates, ride the bus to games, and watch Coach Earwax fumblingly try to take the team to victory. When a teammate gets hit by a ball in a rather blood-soaked way, Steve because afraid that he will get hit as well, which makes it difficult for him to get up to the plate. With the help of his quirky teammates, will the Mighty Plumbers be able to win, even is head jock Jimmy Jimerino isn't there to take them to victory.

This is a very funny story whose main character is a baseball "benchwarmer". Middle grade readers will definitely identify with Steve's experiences. I am glad to see book #2 is forthcoming!

In the begging of this book I didn’t really like it was a little slow to get in there book but when I hit that 2nd chapter I started to get into it I thought it had funny moments and it’s sad moments. But anyways his fathers wants him to be this big hotshot and this book is what he goes threw to maybe be able to be a hot shot .