I am going to start by saying I don’t gravitate towards graphic novels AND I loved this book. I pushed myself to think about why I loved it, why the structure really worked for me in this text, and how it helped me read with a more critical lens.
So let’s start with the story. It is a mix of memoir, history, and sports. You are tracking the relationships of the characters, rooting for your team, and slowing down to learn new information and make connections. The fast pace of a basketball game is reflected in the plot. Readers must follow the plot while learning about each character, and the history of basketball and the Dragons. Each person standing on their own and intricately connected to each other and the story.
The graphic structure supported me in following each person and the connections. Yang gives the reader signals that there is a shift in time using color and framed text captions:
The structure supports the reader in following flashbacks as he jumps between the past - both basketball’s history and each character’s past - and the current story as it plays out. The structure highlights pivotal moments in the text - slowing time down with play-by-play narration of championship games and difficult decision characters make.
For sports fans and history buffs, this book is packed with information. I found myself stopping, closing the book, and heading to Google to learn more. I was drawn to history in a way that is not typical for me as a reader. While informational, the structure embedded the facts into a story, into the lives of people I cared about in the story. In this way, the information became a fabric of the people, woven beautifully into the story. I found myself understanding history better and remembering historical facts more easily. I continue to learn how important it is to know history. It is only through this knowledge that I can be anti-racist and do the work I need to do to make change within my sphere of influence.
Reading with a critical lens is something I have been studying and practicing for the past few years. Dr. Gholdy Muhammad defines criticality as, “Reading print texts and contexts with an understanding of how power, anti-oppression, and equity operates throughout society. Criticality enables us to question both the world and texts within it to better understand the truth in history, power, and equity.” (Cultivating Genius, 2020) Yang pushes the reader to consider multiple points of view, to confront stereotypes, and to understand the history of racial and gender inequality. Issues of social justice, immigration, and family are woven throughout the text. The author models the importance of reading with a critical lens as he reflects on how he stereotypes and his own biases. I love how each of the characters in this story is perfectly imperfect and while aspects of the ending had us cheering, Yang reminds us that endings are not completely happy.
Life is filled with sacrifices, missteps, failures, and recoveries. Readers will want to explore the idea of knowing that in sports, and life, you can never know the outcome for sure. All you can do is move forward and make the best next decision you can make in light of the decision you made yesterday. The graphic structure supports this important theme and readers will love finding, studying, and discussing each moment in the text when someone takes a … step.
“Maybe it’s having the courage to take that next step–even at the risk of making a mistake.”
The teaching possibilities are endless. If we put this book into the hands of middle-grade readers and writers they will lead the way. I have no doubt this will be a text they want to read, reread, discuss, study, and use as a mentor.
