'Yang’s cartooning skills have never been sharper.

'Self-confessed nerd Yang would be the first to say it was unlikely that he’d do a graphic novel about sports, but his latest YA opus might be the best comic ever done on the subject, as he follows the fortunes of his high school basketball team in their quest for a state championship.' - Forbes Above all else, Yang considers himself a storyteller, and Dragon Hoops affords him the opportunity to devise a narrative that is both personal in its approach and universal in its presentation.' - Oakland Magazine 'At more than 400 full-color pages, Dragon Hoops is an impressive feat of illustrated journalism. 'While traverses and weaves together different story lines throughout the season-Yang’s own life the lives of players on the team the various contexts and trajectories of basketball’s development as a sport-the call to courage spills into every narrative.' -The San Francisco Chronicle

'Dragon Hoops winningly chronicles the postseason hopes of the basketball team at the Oakland high school where taught for 17 years.' -The Washington Post

'Full of insight about race and ethnicity, this graphic novel intercuts the thrilling wins and crushing defeats of one high school team with basketball’s own turbulent history.' -The New York Times Reviews Media About the Author Reviews Praise for Dragon Hoops What he doesn’t know yet is that this season is not only going to change the Dragons’s lives, but his own life as well. He knows he has to follow this epic to its end. Once Gene gets to know these young all-stars, he realizes that their story is just as thrilling as anything he’s seen on a comic book page. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championships. The men’s varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that’s been decades in the making. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it's all anyone can talk about. As a kid, his friends called him “Stick” and every basketball game he played ended in pain. And the hero always wins.īut Gene doesn’t get sports.

Gene understands stories-comic book stories, in particular. Nominated for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Printz Honor for Excellence in Young Adult LiteratureĪ YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers Book List Media Issues, Communication & Journalism.Computer Science & Information Technology.

Dragon hoops book