Dragon Hoops

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

The author has always been a bit nerdy and preferred to focus on his comics. He never saw the fascination that other people had with sports, but he couldn't resist the enthusiasm that people had. He decided to talk with coach. He discovered that he was as relatable guy and was once a gangly teenager. The team is great and has made it to the state championship game many times, but has never won. He became smitten by the basketball team. He decides to write his book on their season.

The book goes through the basketball season and ties in school and basketball history. He tries to go in depth with many of the players. The histories are fairly positive, with the players feeling friendly and well-grounded. The team is mostly black, with a future NBA player. However, there are also other players, including a white "redneck", a Punjabi and Chinese student. They endure some racial taunts, but rub it off. The book mostly covers the on-court struggles of the team, together with the challenges of the author and his life. There are even notes at the end of the graphic novel. Some players are great and anticipate future experience playing basketball, while others are looking more at the "student" part of it. It ends as a nice happy sports-story ending.