 Book cover | |
| Author | Gene Luen Yang |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | First Second |
Publication date | March 17, 2020 |
| Pages | 448 |
| ISBN | 978-1-626-72079-4 |
| LC Class | 2018953556 |
Dragon Hoops is a nonfiction graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by Gene Luen Yang and Lark Pien, and published by March 17, 2020, by First Second.
Gene Luen Yang says he was not interested in sports when he was a child. He was interested in comic books, and he created comic stories after graduation. In 2013, Yang publishes the graphic novel Boxers & Saints . His family celebrates the book, but Yang quickly starts running out of ideas for the next graphic novel. Yang is inspired by the basketball team at Bishop O'Dowd High School from Oakland, where he is a teacher. Yang discovers a basketball coach named Lou Ritchie, and they begin to discuss the sport. After Ritchie reveals his full name, Llewellyn Blackman Ritchie, Yang discovers a yearbook from when Ritchie was in high school. Flashbacks to Ritchie as a freshman in fall 1985 reveal that the varsity men's basketball team made it to the California State Championship. He wanted to join the basketball team by doing training and exercise skills. By the time of his junior year, he's grown tall and strong enough to play backup point guard. At the time, he and his team, are ready to start the game's championship. The Bishop O'Dowd Dragons are playing the Manual Arts Toilers for the trophy of California Interscholastic Federation. With seven seconds left in the final period, Dragons coach Mike Phelps yelled "get that ball inbounds! Don't let'em touch it! Then, whoever gets it, make something happen!" Ritchie takes the final shot, scoring two points at the buzzer, beating the Toilers in the final seconds. Just as the Dragons appear to have won the game, the referee calls off the basket, calling "No bucket! Offensive goaltending!" Phelps is irate that the Toilers have won the game with the last minute call. After Ritchie's graduation, he went to college to play a basketball team, first at UCLA, then at Clemson, before an injury ended his career. He graduated with a degree in history. In fall 2001, he returned to his high school, this time, he as a coach. He began as an assistant to Phelps, and then in 2012, he was promoted to head coach.
In the sub-plot, it tells the history of basketball as Lang looked at the resources in the library.
Dragon Hoops received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, [1] School Library Journal , [2] The Horn Book , [3] Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, [4] and Booklist , [5] as well as positive reviews from Kirkus, [6] San Francisco Chronicle, [7] and The New York Times. [8] [9]
Publishers Weekly complimented the book's writing: "Using a candid narrative and signature illustrations that effectively and dynamically bring the fast-paced games to life, Yang has crafted a triumphant, telescopic graphic memoir that explores the effects of legacy and the power of taking a single first step, no matter the outcome." [1] The Horn Book's Eric Carpenter drew attention to how "Yang skillfully juggles the stories of multiple players and coaches as well as his own journey from basketball novice to avid fan." [3]
Jesse Karp, writing for Booklist, applauded Yang's artwork: "Combining visual flair, like speeding backgrounds, with nearly diagrammatic movement, he creates pulse-pounding game sequences." [5] Karp continued, noting, "Most important, through recurring visual motifs that connect a champion basketball player to a self-questioning artist to a Russian immigrant with a new idea, he illuminates the risks that every one of us must take and has, once again, produced a work of resounding humanity." [5]
In varied reviews, the book was called a "standout showing," [2] "[a] winner," [6] and "emotional." [7]
The New York Times, [10] The Washington Post, [11] Amazon, [11] Forbes, [12] School Library Journal, [13] Booklist, [11] The Horn Book, [14] Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, [15] and Publishers Weekly [16] included Dragon Hoops in "Best of" lists. School Library Journal included it several reading lists. [17] [18] [19]
| Year | Award/Honor | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth | Selection | [20] |
| Booklist Top of the List for Youth Graphic Novel | Selection | [21] | |
| 2021 | Association for Library Service to Children Notable Children's Books for Older Readers | Selection | [22] |
| Michael Printz Award | Honor | [23] |
Jonathan Anthony Stroud is a British writer of fantasy fiction, best known for the Bartimaeus young adult sequence and Lockwood & Co. children's series. His books are typically set in an alternative history London with fantasy elements, and have received note for his satire, and use of magic to reflect themes of class struggle. The Bartimaeus sequence is the recipient of the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire and Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards. Stroud's works have also been featured on ALA Notable lists of books for children and young adults. In 2020, Netflix announced a TV series based on Lockwood & Co., with filming initiated in July 2021.
The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by Booklist magazine; administered by the ALA's young-adult division, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA); and named for the Topeka, Kansas, school librarian Mike Printz, a long-time active member of YALSA. Up to four worthy runners-up may be designated Honor Books and three or four have been named every year.
First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It also publishes graphic non-fiction for young readers, including the Science Comics and History Comics collections, and for adults, including the World Citizen Comics, a line of civics graphic books, and biographical works such as The Accidental Czar.
Lark Pien is an American cartoonist who has created the minicomics Stories from the Ward, Mr. Boombha, and Long Tail Kitty, the last of which won her the Friends of Lulu Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent in 2004.
Gene Luen Yang is an American cartoonist. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries. In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and taught computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. In 2012, Yang joined the faculty at Hamline University as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program. In 2016, the U.S. Library of Congress named him Ambassador for Young People's Literature. That year he became the third graphic novelist, alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.
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Jorge Aguirre is an American author and children's television show writer and producer. Aguirre has written shows for PBS, Nick Jr, Netflix, Amazon, and Disney Jr. He is the writer of the graphic novel series The Chronicles of Claudette for Macmillan/First Second Books. The series includes Giants Beware, Dragons Beware, and Monsters Beware. He is also the co-creator of Disney Junior's Goldie & Bear with Rick Gitelson. He has also written for Martha Speaks, Dora the Explorer, Dora and Friends, Handy Manny and other shows. As of 2023, Aguirre is working on a new graphic novel series for middle school aged children with Andrés Vera Martínez called Monster Locker.
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Secret Coders is a series of graphic novels that combines logic puzzles, basic programming instruction, and a story where a group of seventh graders uncover a secret coding school. The series is written by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by Mike Holmes, and published by First Second Books.
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