Matt Christopher is well-known for his sports fiction novels, and he received the Milner Award in 1993, which is presented yearly to the author whose books are most popular among the youngsters of Atlanta, Georgia. His other awards include the National Book Award Finalist designation in 1992. Christopher's first book was a baseball novel that was published when he was only twenty years old: The Junior Circuit (1991). It was followed by two more baseball novels in 1992 and 1993. Then he switched genres and wrote a historical novel that was based on the real-life story of Hernando de Soto, called The First Crossing (1994). Two more historical novels were published in 1995 and 1996. In 1997, he returned to sports fiction with a new character in mind and started writing about Mickey Mouse. He has since written five more Mickey Mouse novels, one Donald Duck novel, three Tarzan novels, and one John Carter novel. Besides being a writer, Christopher is also an artist who has designed some of the covers for his own books. He has illustrated all of the Mickey Mouse novels except for the last two ones written so far. His art has been featured in several magazines including Disney Adventures and Marvel Comics' Hero Illustrated. In 2014, Christopher won the New Talent Award from China's most prestigious literature award ceremony, the Gaokao.