Matt Christopher (1917–1997)
Author of The Kid Who Only Hit Homers
About the Author
Matt Christopher was born August 16, 1917 in Bath, Pennsylvania. He had a variety of odd jobs before focusing full time on writing including playing shortstop for a Class C minor-league team in Smith Falls, Ontario. He also drove trucks and sold umbrellas and worked in a theater. Christopher show more finally began his writing career in 1940, when he wrote a detective story that was accepted by Detective Box Magazine in 1943 His first children's book was The Lucky Baseball Bat, published in 1954, which was in print for 25 years. Christopher was the best-selling author of more than fifty sports books for young readers. He is best known for his sports novels for children as well as his many short stories and articles in numerous children's and adults' magazines. His later works include Dirt Bike Racer, The Spy on Third Base, and Skateboard Tough. Christopher wrote 78 books in all and over 250 magazine articles and short stories. Matt Christopher dies in 1997. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Matt Christopher
BASEBALL STORIES (1) One: Look Who's Playing First Base; Catcher with a Glass Arm; The Kid Who Only Hit Homers (1989) 99 copies
Spike It!: Can Jamie learn to live with her new stepsister? (Matt Christopher Sports Classics) (1999) 46 copies, 1 review
The Super Bowl: Legendary Sports Events (Matt Christopher Legendary Sports Events) (2006) 36 copies, 1 review
On the Field with...Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, and Mallory Pugh (2020) 28 copies, 1 review
The World Series: Legendary Sports Events (Matt Christopher Legendary Sports Events) (2007) 26 copies
The Greatest Sports Team Rivalries (Matt Christopher: The #1 Sports Series for Kids) (2012) 12 copies
Baseball Stories 2 (The Fox Steals Home / No Arm in Left Field / The Year Mom Won the Pennant) (1991) 6 copies
Football Fugitive with Sneak Peaks 2 copies
Double play at second 1 copy
The Lucky Baseball Bat 1 copy
Break for Breakfast 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Christopher, Matthew Frederick
- Birthdate
- 1917-08-16
- Date of death
- 1997-09-20
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- children's book author
- Organizations
- Smith Falls Beavers
- Awards and honors
- Milner Award (1993)
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Bath, Pennsylvania, USA
- Places of residence
- Ludlow Ville, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
This is a review for the whole five-book series, since it is a single story and the individual books do not necessarily offer a sense of conclusion. They need to be read in order:
1) Little League: Play Ball!
2) District Doubleheader
3) State Showdown
4) Perfect Game
5) Baseball World Series
I was quite pleased with this one. I thought it's easily my favorite of the several Matt Christopher stories I have read, and then I realized it's not actually written by Matt Christopher, since he died 16 show more years before this book was published. Apparently, Matt Christopher has become a franchise, and other writers are publishing under his name. These books are actually written by Stephanie True Peters.
Anyway, this is exactly what I ask of sport books for boys. It's easy to read for young readers, even reluctant ones, it has plenty of baseball action for those who love sports, and the baseball play is balanced with interesting drama for the characters. The series is about two cousins who have lived next to each other all their lives. They are like brothers and best friends, they love baseball and are good playing together. Their team makes it to the final of the American side of the Little League World series, where they meet a very strong opponent who had humiliated one of our heroes in the past and behaves in an arrogant manner.
Later, one of the cousins has to move away with his family, and they move to the same city where that former rival lives. The cousins miss each other a lot, and even though they keep in contact, they have to cope with the difficult experience of moving on and making new friends. I thought the whole thing was handled well, depicting realistically the difficulties of making new friends when you feel guilty for "replacing" your best friend, as if you are betraying him.
Both Carter and Liam are likable kids and I was rooting for them. I was always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next. As the boys' teams progressed in their respective little leagues, there was the possibility that if both of them made it to the world series again, they might end up having to play against each other. show less
1) Little League: Play Ball!
2) District Doubleheader
3) State Showdown
4) Perfect Game
5) Baseball World Series
I was quite pleased with this one. I thought it's easily my favorite of the several Matt Christopher stories I have read, and then I realized it's not actually written by Matt Christopher, since he died 16 show more years before this book was published. Apparently, Matt Christopher has become a franchise, and other writers are publishing under his name. These books are actually written by Stephanie True Peters.
Anyway, this is exactly what I ask of sport books for boys. It's easy to read for young readers, even reluctant ones, it has plenty of baseball action for those who love sports, and the baseball play is balanced with interesting drama for the characters. The series is about two cousins who have lived next to each other all their lives. They are like brothers and best friends, they love baseball and are good playing together. Their team makes it to the final of the American side of the Little League World series, where they meet a very strong opponent who had humiliated one of our heroes in the past and behaves in an arrogant manner.
Later, one of the cousins has to move away with his family, and they move to the same city where that former rival lives. The cousins miss each other a lot, and even though they keep in contact, they have to cope with the difficult experience of moving on and making new friends. I thought the whole thing was handled well, depicting realistically the difficulties of making new friends when you feel guilty for "replacing" your best friend, as if you are betraying him.
Both Carter and Liam are likable kids and I was rooting for them. I was always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next. As the boys' teams progressed in their respective little leagues, there was the possibility that if both of them made it to the world series again, they might end up having to play against each other. show less
This is a review for the whole five-book series, since it is a single story and the individual books do not necessarily offer a sense of conclusion. They need to be read in order:
1) Little League: Play Ball!
2) District Doubleheader
3) State Showdown
4) Perfect Game
5) Baseball World Series
I was quite pleased with this one. I thought it's easily my favorite of the several Matt Christopher stories I have read, and then I realized it's not actually written by Matt Christopher, since he died 16 show more years before this book was published. Apparently, Matt Christopher has become a franchise, and other writers are publishing under his name. These books are actually written by Stephanie True Peters.
Anyway, this is exactly what I ask of sport books for boys. It's easy to read for young readers, even reluctant ones, it has plenty of baseball action for those who love sports, and the baseball play is balanced with interesting drama for the characters. The series is about two cousins who have lived next to each other all their lives. They are like brothers and best friends, they love baseball and are good playing together. Their team makes it to the final of the American side of the Little League World series, where they meet a very strong opponent who had humiliated one of our heroes in the past and behaves in an arrogant manner.
Later, one of the cousins has to move away with his family, and they move to the same city where that former rival lives. The cousins miss each other a lot, and even though they keep in contact, they have to cope with the difficult experience of moving on and making new friends. I thought the whole thing was handled well, depicting realistically the difficulties of making new friends when you feel guilty for "replacing" your best friend, as if you are betraying him.
Both Carter and Liam are likable kids and I was rooting for them. I was always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next. As the boys' teams progressed in their respective little leagues, there was the possibility that if both of them made it to the world series again, they might end up having to play against each other. show less
1) Little League: Play Ball!
2) District Doubleheader
3) State Showdown
4) Perfect Game
5) Baseball World Series
I was quite pleased with this one. I thought it's easily my favorite of the several Matt Christopher stories I have read, and then I realized it's not actually written by Matt Christopher, since he died 16 show more years before this book was published. Apparently, Matt Christopher has become a franchise, and other writers are publishing under his name. These books are actually written by Stephanie True Peters.
Anyway, this is exactly what I ask of sport books for boys. It's easy to read for young readers, even reluctant ones, it has plenty of baseball action for those who love sports, and the baseball play is balanced with interesting drama for the characters. The series is about two cousins who have lived next to each other all their lives. They are like brothers and best friends, they love baseball and are good playing together. Their team makes it to the final of the American side of the Little League World series, where they meet a very strong opponent who had humiliated one of our heroes in the past and behaves in an arrogant manner.
Later, one of the cousins has to move away with his family, and they move to the same city where that former rival lives. The cousins miss each other a lot, and even though they keep in contact, they have to cope with the difficult experience of moving on and making new friends. I thought the whole thing was handled well, depicting realistically the difficulties of making new friends when you feel guilty for "replacing" your best friend, as if you are betraying him.
Both Carter and Liam are likable kids and I was rooting for them. I was always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next. As the boys' teams progressed in their respective little leagues, there was the possibility that if both of them made it to the world series again, they might end up having to play against each other. show less
This is a review for the whole five-book series, since it is a single story and the individual books do not necessarily offer a sense of conclusion. They need to be read in order:
1) Little League: Play Ball!
2) District Doubleheader
3) State Showdown
4) Perfect Game
5) Baseball World Series
I was quite pleased with this one. I thought it's easily my favorite of the several Matt Christopher stories I have read, and then I realized it's not actually written by Matt Christopher, since he died 16 show more years before this book was published. Apparently, Matt Christopher has become a franchise, and other writers are publishing under his name. These books are actually written by Stephanie True Peters.
Anyway, this is exactly what I ask of sport books for boys. It's easy to read for young readers, even reluctant ones, it has plenty of baseball action for those who love sports, and the baseball play is balanced with interesting drama for the characters. The series is about two cousins who have lived next to each other all their lives. They are like brothers and best friends, they love baseball and are good playing together. Their team makes it to the final of the American side of the Little League World series, where they meet a very strong opponent who had humiliated one of our heroes in the past and behaves in an arrogant manner.
Later, one of the cousins has to move away with his family, and they move to the same city where that former rival lives. The cousins miss each other a lot, and even though they keep in contact, they have to cope with the difficult experience of moving on and making new friends. I thought the whole thing was handled well, depicting realistically the difficulties of making new friends when you feel guilty for "replacing" your best friend, as if you are betraying him.
Both Carter and Liam are likable kids and I was rooting for them. I was always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next. As the boys' teams progressed in their respective little leagues, there was the possibility that if both of them made it to the world series again, they might end up having to play against each other. show less
1) Little League: Play Ball!
2) District Doubleheader
3) State Showdown
4) Perfect Game
5) Baseball World Series
I was quite pleased with this one. I thought it's easily my favorite of the several Matt Christopher stories I have read, and then I realized it's not actually written by Matt Christopher, since he died 16 show more years before this book was published. Apparently, Matt Christopher has become a franchise, and other writers are publishing under his name. These books are actually written by Stephanie True Peters.
Anyway, this is exactly what I ask of sport books for boys. It's easy to read for young readers, even reluctant ones, it has plenty of baseball action for those who love sports, and the baseball play is balanced with interesting drama for the characters. The series is about two cousins who have lived next to each other all their lives. They are like brothers and best friends, they love baseball and are good playing together. Their team makes it to the final of the American side of the Little League World series, where they meet a very strong opponent who had humiliated one of our heroes in the past and behaves in an arrogant manner.
Later, one of the cousins has to move away with his family, and they move to the same city where that former rival lives. The cousins miss each other a lot, and even though they keep in contact, they have to cope with the difficult experience of moving on and making new friends. I thought the whole thing was handled well, depicting realistically the difficulties of making new friends when you feel guilty for "replacing" your best friend, as if you are betraying him.
Both Carter and Liam are likable kids and I was rooting for them. I was always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next. As the boys' teams progressed in their respective little leagues, there was the possibility that if both of them made it to the world series again, they might end up having to play against each other. show less
This is a review for the whole five-book series, since it is a single story and the individual books do not necessarily offer a sense of conclusion. They need to be read in order:
1) Little League: Play Ball!
2) District Doubleheader
3) State Showdown
4) Perfect Game
5) Baseball World Series
I was quite pleased with this one. I thought it's easily my favorite of the several Matt Christopher stories I have read, and then I realized it's not actually written by Matt Christopher, since he died 16 show more years before this book was published. Apparently, Matt Christopher has become a franchise, and other writers are publishing under his name. These books are actually written by Stephanie True Peters.
Anyway, this is exactly what I ask of sport books for boys. It's easy to read for young readers, even reluctant ones, it has plenty of baseball action for those who love sports, and the baseball play is balanced with interesting drama for the characters. The series is about two cousins who have lived next to each other all their lives. They are like brothers and best friends, they love baseball and are good playing together. Their team makes it to the final of the American side of the Little League World series, where they meet a very strong opponent who had humiliated one of our heroes in the past and behaves in an arrogant manner.
Later, one of the cousins has to move away with his family, and they move to the same city where that former rival lives. The cousins miss each other a lot, and even though they keep in contact, they have to cope with the difficult experience of moving on and making new friends. I thought the whole thing was handled well, depicting realistically the difficulties of making new friends when you feel guilty for "replacing" your best friend, as if you are betraying him.
Both Carter and Liam are likable kids and I was rooting for them. I was always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next. As the boys' teams progressed in their respective little leagues, there was the possibility that if both of them made it to the world series again, they might end up having to play against each other. show less
1) Little League: Play Ball!
2) District Doubleheader
3) State Showdown
4) Perfect Game
5) Baseball World Series
I was quite pleased with this one. I thought it's easily my favorite of the several Matt Christopher stories I have read, and then I realized it's not actually written by Matt Christopher, since he died 16 show more years before this book was published. Apparently, Matt Christopher has become a franchise, and other writers are publishing under his name. These books are actually written by Stephanie True Peters.
Anyway, this is exactly what I ask of sport books for boys. It's easy to read for young readers, even reluctant ones, it has plenty of baseball action for those who love sports, and the baseball play is balanced with interesting drama for the characters. The series is about two cousins who have lived next to each other all their lives. They are like brothers and best friends, they love baseball and are good playing together. Their team makes it to the final of the American side of the Little League World series, where they meet a very strong opponent who had humiliated one of our heroes in the past and behaves in an arrogant manner.
Later, one of the cousins has to move away with his family, and they move to the same city where that former rival lives. The cousins miss each other a lot, and even though they keep in contact, they have to cope with the difficult experience of moving on and making new friends. I thought the whole thing was handled well, depicting realistically the difficulties of making new friends when you feel guilty for "replacing" your best friend, as if you are betraying him.
Both Carter and Liam are likable kids and I was rooting for them. I was always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next. As the boys' teams progressed in their respective little leagues, there was the possibility that if both of them made it to the world series again, they might end up having to play against each other. show less
Lists
1970s (1)
Overdue Podcast (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 257
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 29,952
- Popularity
- #671
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 178
- ISBNs
- 1,929
- Languages
- 7
- Favorited
- 2
