New Releases by Bob Smiley

Average Boy is here to make you laugh and encourage you in your faith! The Average Boy series features humorous writing and whimsical illustrations to help readers embrace the idea that life isn’t always about being the smartest, most athletic, or best-looking kid in the neighborhood. Faith, family, and friends are far more valuable than being perceived as cool. What happens when “Average Boy” Bob Smiley gets to the end of an above-average school year? Why, it’s time for an above-average summer, of course! If things go according to plan—and Average Boy always has lots of plans—then this summer will be his best one ever. You see, Average Boy isn’t going to sleep in until noon this summer—at least not every day. No, he has big goals for the next few months. This summer is when Average Boy will finally build that tree house he’s been planning with his best friend, Billy. This summer is when he will brush his teeth every morning (as soon as he finds his toothbrush). And this summer he’s setting a goal to invite everyone in town to church. There will be challenges along the way—challenges like Donny the school bully, or Sarah and Everley, who always seem to have water balloons in hand. But his biggest challenge this summer is the Huge Hairy Hisser, who lurks in the woods behind Average Boy’s house and seems determined to ruin his tree house-building plans. It will definitely be a summer to remember!

Come along with Average Boy, the longtime popular character from the Clubhouse magazine feature, “Adventures of Average Boy,” in his hilarious journey through the school year. In this middle-grade fiction book, readers will follow Bob (Average Boy) and laugh at his antics as he seeks to set goals and reach them with varying success. One of his big goals is his youth group’s yearlong challenge to stand up for God. Enjoy the signature humor of Christian comedian Bob Smiley. Boys and girls, ages 8 to 12, love the funny stories as they learn important biblical lessons packed into every adventure. Families can also read the Devotions for Super Average Kids (book 1 and 2) and listen to The Official Average Boy Podcast.

"Bob builds a robotic helper for his pug pups."--Back cover.

A cowboy governor finds himself the accidental leader of Texas''s right-wing revolution in this irreverent, entertaining debut novel. Written with the comedic mastery of Christopher Buckley, Don''t Mess with Travis tells the story of Ben Travis, a no-name Texas senator who becomes governor after a late-night accident takes the lives of the men ahead of him in the chain of command. Before the paint has even dried on his parking spot, the recently divorced Travis uncovers the latest Washington power grab and decides there''s only one solution: secession. The stunt pits Travis (and Texas) against the president, a golf-obsessed, progressive egomaniac with spotty leadership skills. The liberal elites are behind the president, and they will try every dirty trick to derail the new governor and hold on to the most prosperous state in the Union. Despite the doomsday threats from D.C., Travis forges ahead in a thrilling and hysterical quest to fight big-government tyranny and restore sanity to the nation. Can Travis avoid a second Civil War without bending his knee to Washington? Will his own daughter and ex-wife come to his aid or sell him out? Most important, can they get all this settled before the beginning of high school football season? In the tradition of Advise and Consent and Primary Colors, Don''t Mess with Travis brilliantly lampoons all that''s wrong with present-day politics while waving the flag behind everything that''s right.

With his career at a standstill and his golf game a shadow of its former mediocrity, TV writer and ESPN.com contributor Bob Smiley decided the time had come to turn to the one person who might be able to help: Tiger Woods. So, in January of 2008, Smiley set out to follow the game''s greatest player from the gallery for every hole of an entire season and to absorb all that he could. Smiley traveled from the seaside cliffs of San Diego to the deserts of Dubai, through the hallowed gates of Augusta National, and on to arguably the greatest U.S. Open of all time back at Torrey Pines, where, in a legendary duel with charismatic journeyman Rocco Mediate, Woods won his fourteenth major—on one leg. Smiley chronicles every dramatic and often hysterical moment of his journey with Tiger, including his off-course run-ins with Arabian sandstorms, ex-con ticket scalpers, and the motley assortment of strangers who became friends along the way. Told from the perspective of a true golf fan, Follow the Roar is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure through the most spectacular and inspiring season in Tiger Woods''s celebrated career. In addition to the thrill of witnessing all 604 holes Woods played in ''08, Smiley found in Tiger both inspiration and the gutsy embodiment of what it really means to be an athlete—and a man.