A review by serendipitysbooks
Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

 
Dragon Hoops is a graphic novel written by a high school maths teacher and part-time comic writer. Searching for inspiration for his next book he decides to focus on his school basketball team’s upcoming season, an interesting choice given he doesn’t otherwise have much of an interest in sport. But the book ends up encompassing much more than that. We also get the history of basketball, a history of the team and an exploration of the backgrounds of the players and coaching staff, which then leads into the impact of racial and religious discrimination. An important ongoing thread is the life lessons the players learn through playing.

What caught my attention with this book was that way the author included himself and his writing process into the story. Things like his unease with not knowing how the story would pan out - would the team finally win the state championship or would they be disappointed yet again ? - how he balances teaching, writing comic books and being a husband and father, and if and how to include mention of a former coach who had been charged with child molestation. It makes this more than just a sports book.

Another aspect that caught my attention was the recurring use of the step motif to signify major changes for players, coaches or the team as a whole. It was interesting to see the different contexts this came up and could lead to really fruitful discussions.

This is not my typical go-to book but I saw @jen.loves.books post a review which caught my eye, and it proved to be an ideal change of pace. 
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