Yang, Gene Luen. Dragon Hoops: From Small Steps to Great Leaps. First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press: New York, 2020.
OK, so Dragon Hoops is neither strictly nonfiction, nor new, but if it isn’t in your high school library collection already, it ought to be! Memoir is a gray zone genre, but Yang is up front with the literary license he takes with the facts by breaking the fourth wall occasionally to explain how he changes real events to make them work for a story. The end notes include a full accounting of where the story parts with reality. It’s sort of a glimpse behind the writing curtain.
Dragon Hoops is the story the path of the Bishop O’Dowd High School men’s basketball team’s path to the California State Championship. It’s also the story of Yang’s discovery of his own school’s (Yang was a teacher at Bishop O’Dowd) basketball team’s lore, the players, and his own love of the game. Who knew high school boys’ basketball could be so compelling to the casual or non-sports fan?
There is so much here. In addition to the main plot line, we get mini-lessons on the origins of basketball for men, for women, and for pros, including mention of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Baller or nerd, students will eat this book up. Extensive end notes bibliography.
Dewey: 796.323 Interest Level: YA grades 9 and up.
Younger readers might like: Basketball is a Numbers Game by Eric Braun.
Fiction pairing: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
On the web: The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Hall of Famers. Read about the best of the best!