While the action on the court is absolutely transfixing (with page layouts often using trapezoid-shaped panels whose diagonal lines amp up the dynamism), the story shines just as brightly off the court when Yang's focus shifts to his own dilemmas and profound insights regarding art and storytelling. ...here [Dragon Hoops] is a perfect entryway into this form [single-season reportage] for teen readers.--Horn Book, starred review
Yang's cartooning skills have never been sharper, and the large cast of characters gives him the opportunity to flex his acting muscles and his ability to simplify faces and bodies while keeping distinct features. ...Dragon Hoops has a long life ahead of it in libraries and classrooms, bridging comics and sports in a story that offers plenty of opportunities for meaningful discussion.--AV Club
At more than 400 full-color pages, Dragon Hoops is an impressive feat of illustrated journalism. Above all else, Yang considers himself a storyteller, and Dragon Hoops affords him the opportunity to devise a narrative that is both personal in its approach and universal in its presentation. ...Yang relishes the versatility of the medium, with a style that's accessible and dynamic.--Oakland Magazine
While [Dragon Hoops] traverses and weaves together different story lines throughout the season -- Yang's own life; the lives of players on the team; the various contexts and trajectories of basketball's development as a sport -- the call to courage spills into every narrative.--San Francisco Chronicle
Dragon Hoops winningly chronicles the postseason hopes of the basketball team at the Oakland high school where [Gene Luen Yang] taught for 17 years.--Washington Post
Yang is an extraordinary cartoonist...through recurring visual motifs that connect a champion basketball player to a self-questioning artist to a Russian immigrant with a new idea, he illuminates the risks that every one of us must take and has, once again, produced a work of resounding humanity. --Booklist, starred review
As Yang taps into subjects as varied as assimilation and discrimination in America...readers learn how this low-cost, indoor game leveled racial, gender, and international boundaries to attain global prominence. Another standout showing from Yang, this title will have even sports haters on their feet cheering. --School Library Journal, starred review
Using a candid narrative and signature illustrations that effectively and dynamically bring the fast-paced games to life, Yang has crafted a triumphant, telescopic graphic memoir that explores the effects of legacy and the power of taking a single first step, no matter the outcome. --Publisher's Weekly, starred review
On-court action is impeccably paced in swift cuts...expect a warm reception from both the sports fiction crowd and open-minded nerds willing to explore what all the seasonal fuss is all about. --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
The full-color illustrations are varied in layout, effectively conveying intense emotion and heart-stopping action on the court...A winner. --Kirkus
