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lilybear3's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
Gene Luen Yang is unmatched. This instantly became one of my favorite books and one that I'd consider essential. This is required reading for basketball fans, graphic novel fans, and everyone who has a dream. I've been a fan of Gene Luen Yang's for a while now and I don't know why it took me so long to get to Dragon Hoops. It's everything I want in a book. It follows the high school, where Yang teaches, basketball team and their journey to the state championship. I love that he spends time on the players' and coaches' backgrounds and their stories. It feels personal and he's inviting us to be invested in the team as well. He shares basketball history and how we got to where we are today. I learned about the first dunk in the WNBA! This book embodied the competitive spirit and has just so much heart and honesty. I had the same excitement I have when I watch a basketball game while I read. I'm an avid sports person, there's good and bad in sports, and Yang doesn't shy away from that. He's an amazing storyteller.
Seriously, take the step and read this book.
Seriously, take the step and read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
amiegold's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
kmclights's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Dragon Hoops is a very informative and enjoyable graphic novel about a coach and his team on their journey to a high school basketball state championship. It is also the author’s journey from someone who hated sports from childhood to someone who enjoys watching and following basketball. The graphic novel format makes for quick reading, but tackles some serious issues like racism, prejudice, and historic inappropriate relationships. Some chapters are dedicated to the back stories of the coaches and players where I learned some surprising things about basketball and other chapters had the dramatic and emotional ups and downs of the games.
If you are a basketball fan then you will really enjoy this, but even if you are not then you are will still enjoy the story and the characters. The author does a really good job of mixing character study with the drama of a memorable season.
If you are a basketball fan then you will really enjoy this, but even if you are not then you are will still enjoy the story and the characters. The author does a really good job of mixing character study with the drama of a memorable season.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism and Adult/minor relationship
The former coach of the team being covered was suspended from the school in 2003 for an inappropriate relationship that he had had some thirty years prior. Although never convicted of anything, he never coached again and the author shows his own struggle with how to include this character in the story.library_kb's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Part sports history, part memoir, part journalism, this is another sports book (like Crossover by Kwame Alexander) that will appeal to more than just sports fans. It is a thick graphic novel--around 400 pages, which will really engage some students who just whip through graphic novels! From a teacher's perspective, I would love to use parts of this as a mentor text, because there are some really great scenes depicting authorial decisions and what goes into making those, as well as some really thoughtful use of pacing and format (for example, great discussions could be had about why he chose to put certain panels next to each other and what the reader can understand because of that). There are a couple instances of swearing on the page and a character in the story (or on the sidelines of the story) that deals with a beloved coach accused of inappropriate relations with a student, but for 7th/8th grade readers, there will be a lot of fans!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Religious bigotry
lesia's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Child abuse, and Islamophobia
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