DRAGON HOOPS

DRAGON HOOPS by Gene Luen Yang

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang is a true story comic book (437 pages) about the Bishop O'Dowd High School boys basketball team in 2015. Yang's fulltime job was a teacher at the school, and he was also a graphic novelist. He had never had an interest in sports. He says in the story, "In a well-crafted story, everything makes sense. Which is more than I can say for sports." He was on the lookout for a new story to write when he started hearing about the school's basketball team. The theme of this book is STEP. Several times an emphasis is put on someone having to take a STEP out of their comfort zone into a new possibility. This theme is a beautiful part of the book! Yang takes the first one stepping into the world of sports. The book is full of so much more than the story of the team. You look at the history of their coach, the history of how basketball came to be, the history of women's basketball, the history of basketball in China, etc. It is so well interwoven in this book! HOWEVER...

HEADS UP- There is language in this book. The f bomb is used approx. 12-15 times. They don't actually put the word in. It's f***. What kid doesn't fill in those blanks? There are a handful of other words also asterisked out. Also one of the original coaches from way back was accused of molesting a student. It was never proven, and it went completely against how everyone Yang interviewed said their coach was. He was completely broken, and the current coach who played for him shows a beautiful example of compassion.

So where does this leave me? Honestly this book is so fantastic I would like Isaac (6th grade) to read it, but I'm probably going to black out the language. If he was older I would consider leaving it. This book would be enjoyed by an age range of about 12+.