Linked by Gordon Korman

 

In a normal school, in Chokecherry, an anonymous kid or adult vandalizes a school during the night. The first swastika. SInce Michael was the first to see it, he was accused of doing it. Since Link was the most popular kid in school, everybody is looking at him to solve the problem. Since Dana is the only Jewish kid in school, everyone is looking at her like she doesn’t belong. Little does everyone know that everything is connected. 

I kind of liked this book, but I also sort of did not like it. First, what I did like about the book. I thought my favorite character in the book was Link because at the beginning of the story, he doesn’t know that he is part Jewish, and he is the most popular kid in school. But when his mom finally tells him that he is Jewish, he changes. He starts getting ready for his bar mitzvah and starts learning Hebrew chants. He feels like he can do something to acknowledge the six million Jewish people that died in the Holocaust. He wants to honor his Grandma that could of died in the Holocaust. He also wants to honor his cousins that never got the chance to be born. But something I did not like about the book is how the book was kind of boring. I kind of felt like the plot stayed the same during the book. At the start of the book, Michael finds a swastika on the wall and gets freaked out and everyone tries to find the kid who painted it. At the middle of the book about six more swastikas were found and everyone was trying to find the kid who did it. So basically I kind of think the whole time they are just trying to find out which kid did it.

I think if you like books about anti-racism and you like realistic fiction, then you would like this book. I also think that if you like chapter books that have multiple different points of view from different characters throughout the book, then this is the book for you. 

Review by Angela S.