Dragon Hoops
Video Transcript
Narrated by Rochelle Hickey
Do you dislike watching basketball?
Me, too.
So why not read about it?!
Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang covers more than just playing basketball.
It is an award winning story about resourcefulness, determination, and not being afraid to take that step.
It’s a non-fiction graphic novel (that takes a few historical liberties … but don’t worry, Mr. Yang meticulously details all of his changes in the back of the book. And most of the changes are for story continuity within the graphic novel and doesn’t change any large historical facts.)
Mr. Yang is not only the author, but also the main character of the book as he struggles with finding a new graphic novel topic. Spoilers: he chooses basketball.
He mentions on page 359 that “I know I’m a lousy caricaturist, okay?” when talking with his wife (who also happens to be his conscience). But the truth is, his caricatures work throughout the entire book. He mentions Yao Ming and Shaquille O’Neal (and let me tell you my bookworm listeners, even this non-sporty librarian knows their faces and I recognized them in their depictions. Then again, they might be the only two—possibly three—I recognize but I feel like it’s still saying something).
You’re a good caricaturist, Mr. Yang! You just need to believe in yourself! And maybe listen to your wife (who is also your conscience) more. But that’s besides the point.
Dragon Hoops interweaves the history of basketball with Mr. Yang’s main story, which I loved the most. It really brought into perspective where the sport came from, the obstacles it faced early on, and how it really unified people of all different places, cultures, and financial backgrounds.
I loved how the ‘quote’ “old doubts” keep coming to the surface from past to present, but the people depicted are changing through time. It really shows how harmful stereotypes persist and have a hard time changing over the centuries.
Racial stereotypes are presented throughout the book in past and present, but I do feel like they were slightly glossed over to focus on the main theme which is taking that step, taking the chance, and not being afraid to do so.
In the novel, the present story follows a basketball season for the Bishop O’Dowd Dragons who are from a Catholic High School.
Something I thought was interesting (and I’m sure other people know this, but it was new to me) was how many players on the team were not actually Catholic, but went to a Catholic school just so they could play basketball on a high-up-there team. It was mentioned on page 252, that as of 2015 when this book was published, 32% of California’s State Championship games were won by Catholic high schools. That’s impressive to me, I don’t know about you?
The novel goes on to compare religious rituals with sports rituals and how that familiar repetition can calm and create focus on and off the court.
I loved how the book took time to get to know some of the players and coaches and their diverse backgrounds. It really put into context the team dynamics and what each player was really playing for.
One player moved from China to play American basketball, another acknowledged his ability to play basketball to his grandfather who managed to make it out of India during the partition, another discussed his long journey to be able to play on the Varsity team, and yet another talked about how he wanted to achieve a 4.0 GPA in college and was going to drop basketball to do that.
It highlights that everyone can have a different reason for playing the game, but what really matters is getting that “W”, what! What! J/K what really matters is believing in yourself and taking that chance.
So you don’t like basketball? Well, maybe you should take the chance on reading Dragon Hoops. It’s a slam dunk!
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