Dragon Hoops and DNFs

Sometimes there are books that seem like they would be great...so you pick it up and you start reading. And it just never pulls you in. At some point, you get far enough into the book that you realize it's never going to get better and you have to decide whether or not to muscle through or set it aside. In the past, I've always been one to muscle through the book no matter how long it takes me. But lately, I've been of the mindset, why waste my time slowly creeping through a book that doesn't get me excited or bring me any joy? So this week, when this happened to me, I abandoned the book. In the reading world, we call this a "Did Not Finish" (DNF).

My DNF this week was Hunting November by Adriana Mather. It's all about a girl named November who has to find her missing father after enrolling in a Hogwarts-esque boarding school for assassins. She has to find clues from her former life to give her hints into all the things she never knew about her dad. I made it about 1/3 of the way through the book and I still felt like I wasn't really hitting any action. So I convinced myself to return the book to the library without finishing it. 

I'm no longer really in the YA intended audience for this book and maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm sure lots of other readers really loved this book but I didn't this time around. Maybe I'll try it again someday...but if not, that's okay!

Since I wasted nearly a week trying to push myself through that book, I knew I needed something good and engaging to get myself back in the reading rhythm. Our school librarian recommended to my students a graphic novel about a state-championship-winning high-school basketball team and the history of basketball called Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang (author of American Born Chinese). One of my students checked it out and then promptly left it in my classroom. And what else was I going to do? So I read the whole thing before I gave it back to him!

As a teacher at a high school in California, Yang got a front-row seat to his school's team as they made their way through the season all the way to the State championship. And even though he himself was not interested in sports, he saw the compelling story that this group of teenagers and their coaches made. The graphic novel centers on Yang and his journey towards learning about basketball, his interviews with everyone on the team, as well as others that helped the players on their way to the ultimate end of the season. 

I loved how the author himself was included in the story--it reminded me a little bit of the narrative frame story in Maus by Art Spiegelman. He became his own main character in his exploration of the world of sports. I think this makes the book even more accessible because it's not only a book for sports fans but also graphic novel lovers who are open to learning about sports. 

The real-world characters are fun and they each have engaging backstories that help us cheer them on. And Yang does a fantastic job of giving the readers closure with all of his characters by the end of the novel.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this to any of my sports-loving readers as well as anyone who loves a good graphic novel. It was a very enjoyable read! You can purchase a copy here.