{"id":37756,"date":"2022-02-08T00:26:35","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T04:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37756"},"modified":"2022-02-08T00:26:35","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T04:26:35","slug":"review-of-dragon-hoops-by-gene-luen-yang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37756","title":{"rendered":"Review of Dragon Hoops, by Gene Luen Yang"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Dragon Hoops<\/p>\n

From Small Steps Great Leaps<\/em><\/p>\n

by Gene Luen Yang
\ncolor by Lark Pien<\/p>\n

First Second, 2020. 446 pages.
\nReview written May 26, 2020, from a library book
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

This is a graphic novel memoir about a notable high school basketball season at Bishop O\u2019Dowd High School in Oakland, California, when the author was a teacher there. It was the 2014-15 season, and Mr. Yang had just had a graphic novel published on which he\u2019d been working for six years. He puts himself into the story as he finds out all the hopes and dreams of the students and teachers were centering on finally winning a California state championship with their nationally ranked players. The school had previously had teams go to the championship game many times, but had never actually won.<\/p>\n

And so we get the story of the season. The starting players and the coaches are featured. Key games are dramatized. We even get the history of basketball and why Catholic schools have a good record in this sport.<\/p>\n

The author keeps the theme of \u201cFrom Small Steps to Great Leaps\u201d going by highlighting many small steps throughout \u2013 as people take a step into something new, and big things result. In Mr. Yang\u2019s own life, he was trying to decide whether to quit teaching and switch to writing comics full-time, as he negotiated an offer to write for Superman<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But with basketball, you don\u2019t know if the \u201cgood guys\u201d win. And by making that point early in the book, we didn\u2019t know how the season was going to turn out. The final game is well-dramatized and had me shouting at the end. Yes, shouting at a graphic novel as if it were a live game.<\/p>\n

Now, the women\u2019s basketball team at Bishop O\u2019Dowd won the state championship that same year, so I found myself wishing there had been more coverage of that. (There was some, but mostly talking about the older sister of one of the players on the men\u2019s team.) Though to be fair, the book was long enough as it was, and that might have made it unmanageable. Not to mention the difficulty the author might have had trying to get to both teams\u2019 games.<\/p>\n

I also wasn\u2019t sure I liked the author writing himself into the story. But by the end, I appreciated it. It added a personal touch and emphasized that these were real kids caught up in big events.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a sports fan. (Though I was, in fact, a big fan of my high school\u2019s basketball team and took stats for it.) But I am a fan of Gene Luen Yang\u2019s writing, and I enjoyed this book thoroughly. The pacing was good; the history was interesting; and the competition was dramatic.<\/p>\n

firstsecondbooks.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teen_Nonfiction\/dragon_hoops.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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