Dragon Hoops Book Review

Dragon Hoops

I read Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang. I picked this book because I have seen a lot of notoriety about it on social media, but I had really no expectations. In fact, I am embarrassed to say that I was not paying attention to the title or the cover, which if I was, would tell me that it was about basketball. (Honestly, I focused on the word dragon and thought I would be reading a graphic novel about them). This book was AWESOME! It is based on the high school basketball team of the school Gene Leun Yang taught at: Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, California. Going to MSHS and being a teacher, I connected with the book at the get go. Like Gene Luen Yang, I am a nerdy teacher, and not into sports. Like him, as he retells the 2014-2015 O'Dowd Basketball season, I could not help but root for this team, hoping they make it to the state championship. In addition, I learned a little bit about the history of basketball, the integration of people of color (POC), women’s basketball, basketball in China, and Gandhi. Also, what touched me was the ugliness of fans in the stands - thinking it is okay to use racial slurs trying to intimidate players or mess with their mindset.
Let me emphasize this - we do not watch sports in my home. We watch our children playing sports, and are avid and embarrassing fans in the stands, but on February 7, Superbowl Sunday, we probably won’t be watching, and if we do, it is for the commercials. This goes for every sport, even Women’s World Cup Soccer - the most successful international soccer team, (eclipsing US men’s soccer), (soccer and volleyball are the sports in our household.). Yet, here I was while reading this book about high school basketball, and looking at the illustration, holding my breath hoping Paris, Jeevin, Arinze, Alex, Ivan ,Austin, Coach Lou and the rest of Bishop O'Dowd’s basketball team win each game that would take them to the state championship. I also want to find out about these players - where are they now? Did Ivan make it to the pros? What about Jeevin or Alex and Paris and Arinze?

Books are supposed to make you feel something, that is what opens your mind and hearts to other people’s perspective. As you can see, Dragon Hoops does exactly this!. I was so excited by this book, I could not stop talking about it to my family. Let me reiterate, we don’t follow sports - yet here I was, drooling over a book about high school basketball ( which it is way more than just that!). This is why graphic novels are real books - they make you think and feel just like a book that has only text.

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