In the decades since the school's founding, the team had made it to California's State Championships eight times-never to win. One happens to be at the very school where Yang works as a comp-sci teacher: the story of the Bishop O’Dowd High School basketball team in Oakland, and their coach (and former player), Lou Richie.ĭragon Hoops chronicles the real-life events of the 2014-2015 season for the O’Dowd Dragons.

He’s out of stories.īut as it turns out, fascinating and important tales abound. In 2014, Gene Luen Yang finds himself stuck. “Basketball is part of Oakland’s history. This was a fun and interesting read, even if you aren't into sports. He also sits down and interviews many of the players and coaches. You see through his eyes as he begins to understand what it is to become a fan of a sport and team. I like how Yang gets sucked into to caring about the outcome of the game and rooting for the Dragons as the season progresses. It provides some incite that most of the controversial things that happened during Yang's run were mainly DC editorial decisions and not his own. Throughout the season, he is fielding calls from DC Comics about taking over writing Superman. So not only is it about basketball, but it's autobiographical as well. Yang inserts himself into the book as narrator. After meeting with his fellow teacher and head coach, he determined he wanted to focus on the Dragons' season even though he cared little about basketball. He was looking for a subject for his next project when he heard people talking about how good the basketball team was at the high school where he teaches. Yang had no interest in basketball or any other sport when he began writing this. It touches of race, religion, bias, and many other topics. Yes, this book is about high school basketball. 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. In his latest graphic novel, New York Times bestselling author Gene Luen Yang turns the spotlight on his life, his family, and the high school where he teaches.

Dragon hoops gene yang