Linked (ToolKit)
Gordon Korman
Age Rec: 5th -7th Grades
Themes: Antisemitism, Hate Symbols, Teaching Tolerance, Middle School, Jewish Identity, Learning From Mistakes
When a graffitied swastika shows up at the middle school in the small town of Chokeberry, the entire community is alarmed. Not only is this symbol deeply concerning and offensive, but it also triggers reminders of the town’s troubled past, which includes hosting a KKK event some 40 years earlier. This serves as the setting of a thoughtful and engaging story that will captivate readers and highlight many important themes relevant in today’s complicated and divisive world.
From here, the school embarks on a tolerance education initiative. As the students begin to grasp the magnitude of The Holocaust, they search for ways to give it more context. Eleven million lives lost, six million of which were Jews, is unfathomable. A school in Tennessee collected 6 million paper clips as a memorial. This inspires the Chokeberry students to do something similar. Meanwhile, all of this unfolds as the typical social dramas of middle schoolers plays out.
There is one Jewish girl in town who has always felt alienated - not just as the new girl, but as a member of the “dinosaur research” community. Her parents relocated to this small Colorado town because they are paleontologists working to unearth dinosaur remnants discovered there. Dana feels all eyes on her. This sense of alienation intensifies when popular kid, Link, discovers he too, is Jewish and aims to befriend Dana.
Gordon Korman
Age Rec: 5th -7th Grades
Themes: Antisemitism, Hate Symbols, Teaching Tolerance, Middle School, Jewish Identity, Learning From Mistakes
When a graffitied swastika shows up at the middle school in the small town of Chokeberry, the entire community is alarmed. Not only is this symbol deeply concerning and offensive, but it also triggers reminders of the town’s troubled past, which includes hosting a KKK event some 40 years earlier. This serves as the setting of a thoughtful and engaging story that will captivate readers and highlight many important themes relevant in today’s complicated and divisive world.
From here, the school embarks on a tolerance education initiative. As the students begin to grasp the magnitude of The Holocaust, they search for ways to give it more context. Eleven million lives lost, six million of which were Jews, is unfathomable. A school in Tennessee collected 6 million paper clips as a memorial. This inspires the Chokeberry students to do something similar. Meanwhile, all of this unfolds as the typical social dramas of middle schoolers plays out.
There is one Jewish girl in town who has always felt alienated - not just as the new girl, but as a member of the “dinosaur research” community. Her parents relocated to this small Colorado town because they are paleontologists working to unearth dinosaur remnants discovered there. Dana feels all eyes on her. This sense of alienation intensifies when popular kid, Link, discovers he too, is Jewish and aims to befriend Dana.
Gordon Korman
Age Rec: 5th -7th Grades
Themes: Antisemitism, Hate Symbols, Teaching Tolerance, Middle School, Jewish Identity, Learning From Mistakes
When a graffitied swastika shows up at the middle school in the small town of Chokeberry, the entire community is alarmed. Not only is this symbol deeply concerning and offensive, but it also triggers reminders of the town’s troubled past, which includes hosting a KKK event some 40 years earlier. This serves as the setting of a thoughtful and engaging story that will captivate readers and highlight many important themes relevant in today’s complicated and divisive world.
From here, the school embarks on a tolerance education initiative. As the students begin to grasp the magnitude of The Holocaust, they search for ways to give it more context. Eleven million lives lost, six million of which were Jews, is unfathomable. A school in Tennessee collected 6 million paper clips as a memorial. This inspires the Chokeberry students to do something similar. Meanwhile, all of this unfolds as the typical social dramas of middle schoolers plays out.
There is one Jewish girl in town who has always felt alienated - not just as the new girl, but as a member of the “dinosaur research” community. Her parents relocated to this small Colorado town because they are paleontologists working to unearth dinosaur remnants discovered there. Dana feels all eyes on her. This sense of alienation intensifies when popular kid, Link, discovers he too, is Jewish and aims to befriend Dana.