Gene Luen Yang Announces ‘Dragon Hoops’
Gene Luen Yang has announced his next graphic novel, and it’s about… basketball. Yang will write and draw the book, Dragon Hoops, the true story of a Catholic school’s attempt to win the 2015 California state championships:
Although Yang didn’t know much about basketball, he was fascinated by the dynamics of a diverse team at this Catholic school. The author focuses on six players on the squad, all of whom are seniors — including one member who is the only Sikh player in the league. “With him,” Yang tells The Post’s Comic Riffs, “I want to talk about culture and race and religion, and how those things have played into the history of basketball.”
Yang, who will use real names and games in the book, says his focus is really “on each of these kids,” from their struggles and cultural differences to their shared dreams and achievements. In writing the graphic novel, he adds, he is inspired by such books as “Friday Night Lights.”
The book is due out in 2018.
Filed under: Graphic Novels
About Brigid Alverson
Brigid Alverson, the editor of the Good Comics for Kids blog, has been reading comics since she was 4. She has an MFA in printmaking and has worked as a book editor, a newspaper reporter, and assistant to the mayor of a small city. In addition to editing GC4K, she is a regular columnist for SLJ, a contributing editor at ICv2, an editor at Smash Pages, and a writer for Publishers Weekly. Brigid is married to a physicist and has two daughters. She was a judge for the 2012 Eisner Awards.
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