One student was a member of the Sikh religion. Another was an exchange student from China who wanted to badly play on an American Team. A few were young men from the inner city, who did not want to share all of their struggles. He starts with coach Lou, who was an alumnus of the school and played with the well-known yet controversial coach Digger Phelps. Yang chronicles the story of each of the diverse members of the team.

The team had been in the championship seven times but had never taken home the trophy. In searching for a new story idea, Yang decided to follow the school’s basketball team while they set out to win their first state championship. Art Assistance by Rianne Meyers and Kolbe Yang.ĭragon Hoops is part memoir and part chronicle of the basketball team from Bishop O’Dowd High School, where Yang worked as a teacher. It’s no wonder, because Yang has garnered many awards: He’s won a Printz Medal and an Eisner Award, he was appointed the Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and he has even written Superman! But I think this time, the whispering is not only because this is a great book from a great author/cartoonist, but because it’s a departure from his other books.īy Gene Luen Yang. It’s been all over Twitter and Instagram. Brigid Alverson mentioned it in her column about titles to look forward to in 2020. Colby Sharp featured it in on his YouTube Channel. Even before Dragon Hoops was released, it was getting a lot of buzz.

Dragon hoops paperback