First look: Gene Luen Yang gets personal in new graphic novel Dragon Hoops
For his next book, acclaimed author and artist Gene Luen Yang is looking inward.
Best known for American Born Chinese, which won the Printz Award and Eisner Award and was a National Book Award finalist, the New York Times best-selling writer is set to publish his first solo graphic novel since 2013: Dragon Hoops. It’s also his first work of nonfiction: The book focuses on his life, his family, and the high school where he teaches.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Gene understands stories — comic book stories, in particular. Big action. Bigger thrills. And the hero always wins. But Gene doesn’t get sports. As a kid, his friends called him “Stick” and every basketball game he played ended in pain. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it’s all anyone can talk about. The men’s varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that’s been decades in the making. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championships. 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. He knows he has to follow this epic to its end. What he doesn’t know yet is that this season is not only going to change the Dragons’ lives, but his own life as well.”
Yang has shared an exclusive first look at Dragon Hoops with EW. Below, you can see some of Yang’s gorgeous work on the book, and be sure to check out the cover above. Dragon Hoops publishes March 17, 2020, and is available for pre-order.
Excerpt from Dragon Hoops, by Gene Luen Yang
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