Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

Genre: Graphic Novel, Non-fiction Targeted Age Group: Ages 13-18 Summary: Gene understands stories but he doesn't get sports. At the high school where he now teaches the varsity basketball team is all anyone can talk about as they make their way to the California State Championships and when Yang learns of the stories of the all-stars of this team he learns their stories are just as thrilling as those of the comics he reads and has to follow them to their epic end. Why I Chose this Book: I had read the previous works of Lang (American Born Chinese, Boxers, Saints, Animal Crackers, Level Up, Secret Coders [#1]) and felt that I could not go wrong in picking another one of his works. The book is also a Micheal L. Printz Award Honor Book. What caught my eye about this book is that it was steering away from Lang's usual. It was not a work of fiction. It was not following a mythology or legend. Also it was a book about sports. Don't get me wrong. I love Gene Luen Yang but he doesn't strike me as much of a sports guy, making me further intrigued to read what the man has to say and the story he is telling. Review:

Picking Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang was a no brainer for me. I enjoy the simplicity of Yang’s illustrative style. Not bogging down his illustrations in details leads us to still give attention to the story, the words that act in tandem. Reading my way through the story I also noticed how different shades of yellow were used throughout the story. I found this to be an interesting choice by the colorist as I haven’t found yellow to be utilized as greatly as it’s done here in Dragon Hoops. The yellow boxes draw attention to the story when dialogue between characters is not at play, giving us the backstory so that we may understand the interactions between characters as they play out before us. Yellow along with the font style was also utilized to emphasize sounds and words of the story.

The plot was wonderfully driven by a coach’s drive to win the state championship with his high school basketball team after coming up short year after year. The athletic story full of heart is not one that normally comes from Yang. Usually, his stories are filled with history, mythology, STEM, and superheroes. Yang really draws you in with the backstories of the coaches and the team. Without this background, we would be at a loss of what truly drives our underdog basketball team. Learning the stories of the key players such as Paris and Ivan, where they grew up and their journey to Bishop O’Dowd gives heart to the story. It has you cheering from them as you wonder will they finally be able to win the state championship after coming up short so many times?

The team not only has to grapple with winning games but they must also deal with life outside the court as well. Characters Paris and Ivan don’t come from the best neighborhood and see basketball as their way out. Alex Zhao is wanting to prove that he belongs on the team as there are not many well-known Asian players in basketball. Couch Lou is confronting the pressure for his team to play well and win the state championship. Much of this pressure is self-inflicted and stemming from his adolescence when his team was so close to winning the championship.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dragon Hoops. It is not a story I am usually drawn to, as I tend to stray away sports stories. Yang managed to craft a story that I believe sports lovers and non-sports lovers can enjoy as they root on the Bishop O’Dowd Dragons.

Yang, G. L., Yang, K., Pien, L., & Meyers, R. (2020). Dragon Hoops. First Second.