Linked
Author: Gordon Korman
Publisher: Scholastic
Link, Michael and Dana live in a quiet town. But it's woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. Nobody can believe it. How could such a symbol of hate end up in the middle of their school? Who would do such a thing? Because Michael was the first person to see it, he's the first suspect. Because Link is one of the most popular guys in school, everyone's looking to him to figure it out. And because Dana's the only Jewish girl in the whole town, everyone's treating her more like an outsider than ever. The mystery deepens as more swastikas begin to appear. Some students decide to fight back and start a project to bring people together instead of dividing them further. The closer Link, Michael and Dana get to the truth, the more there is to face – not just the crimes of the present, but the crimes of the past. With Linked, Gordon Korman, the author of the acclaimed novel Restart, poses a mystery for all readers where the “who did it?” isn't nearly as important as the “why?”
Although it doesn’t have as much humor as his other books, this novel has believable, entertaining characters, and who-done-it twists and turns that keep the reader guessing right to the surprising and satisfying ending. It deals with anti-Semitism and racism, but more so with how a community and student body might react to those. It’s about atonement and forgiveness. It also touches on those who would deny history, those who would manipulate current events for mere social media ratings, and those who can find a way to turn bad into good. The last line of the novel says it all: Tolerance is more about the journey than the destination.
Even if it isn’t a straight-up humor novel, the great lines are still there in force, of course:
Fact: I would rather be deep-fried in boiling oil than sit through one of Caroline’s student council meetings.
She didn’t give up on me, even though I knew as much about being Jewish as I know about building a nuclear power station out of Popsicle sticks.
“You’re not trying to double-dip, are you?” Pouncey asks suspiciously. “Like, you rake in the Hanukkah presents and then switch back on Christmas Eve.”
If in-school suspension gave frequent-flyer miles, he’d be in Bali by now, probably drawing swastikas on the beach.
“These days, the people who care about me would fit in a phone booth and still leave room for the guy talking on the phone.”
But any novel dealing with Holocaust history, and educating readers a bit about the Jewish faith, is going to have plenty of serious moments too.
Holocaust survivor: “I used to pray every night that I would see my father again. But when I did, he was just loose skin over a skeleton, and his eyes were sunken and blank. When I tried to hug him, he shrank from me, and I knew then that he didn’t recognize me.”
The culprit (who shall remain unnamed): “I know what I did was unforgivable. I’d give anything to be able to change it, but that’s not how the world works. We can’t change the past. All we can do is work hard to make things right in the future. I promise that, for me, that starts now.”
- P.W.