Linked

Written by Gordon Korman

Narrated by Preston Butler III, Christopher Gebauer, Maxwell Glick and 3 more

You can't deny something is wrong when it's right there in front of you. 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 ofdividing 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 also 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?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705041543

Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman published his first book at age fourteen and since then has written more than one hundred middle grade and teen novels. Favorites include the New York Times bestselling Ungifted, Supergifted, The Superteacher Project, The Unteachables, Pop, Notorious, Unplugged, Operation Do-Over, Slugfest, and the Masterminds series. Gordon lives with his family on Long Island, New York. You can visit him online at gordonkorman.com.

Reviews for Linked

[kaitlin laird · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hi, I know that I am the first to give this book a review, and it is not a great kick off, as this is not a five star review. I am in the age range of the designated ages the book was directed for, but have never seen anything like this one. The plot, the twists( no spoilers), the anger and emotion you can feel as you read this book are AMAZING. Although, after we found out who "Swastika Guy"(s) was, there were still nine more chapters. It felt the like the author had been asked to write more chapters than he needed, but had to just keep the story going. It looped off in so many directions, and then it just all ended at once. First 25 chapter are amazing.

[Melissa LoVerde · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was good but a little long for me .

[Becky Baumgartner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A well-deserved award winner that reminds readers of the dangers of racism on communities, and looks at how people can really change. The different narrators did a great job.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Linked is a 2023 Lone Star novel where chapters are told from different points of view: Link, the class prankster; Michael, the head of the art club; Dana, a new student and the only Jewish person in the school; and, Caroline, the person who believes in student government and leadership.Michael always forgets stuff, but this time when he returns to school to get his phone, the entire town reels when Michael turns from his locker in the empty school and sees a swastika painted on the wall. He freezes. Meanwhile, Lincoln (Link) pulls one of his infamous pranks with his friends by putting manure in the office of the dinosaur scientists. Unfortunately, his big joke is overshadowed by the swastika. His father wants the town to be a destination--people come from all around to see the dinosaur dig--the next Disney World! Therefore, Link has little love for the dinosaur dig and has little patience with his dad's constant talk of the town's future and Link's own future.Symbols of hate cut through society, making people face the past, the present and the future. There's a rumor that a thousand crosses burned one night by the KKK. Has the town moved beyond their racist past? The novel explores these ideas. The first response is to have tolerance classes for the students. They seem to be indifferent to the classes although some students start to understand how hate affects the hated. One of the dinosaur scientists happens to be Jewish and sends his daughter to this school. She stands out as the only Jew where a swastika was painted. It's rather uncomfortable for her. People give Dana side-long looks, wondering how's she's doing. After the tolerance classes, everyone believes they've done all they can do. That's when another swastika is found. Then another. Then another. What should the second response be? What does this say about their town? Do people really hate this much?The novel explores different people's reactions to hate symbols. Link, the prankster, can't joke about this symbol. He talks about what he's learned about the Jews and hate, feeling sorry for Jews when his mother tells him something she hasn't known long. Her mother was an orphan. She had been protected by French nuns, never told about her family to keep her safe. They all died in the Holocaust. When Link learns this information--that's he's technically Jewish, he's determined to honor his Jewish heritage. He enlists Dana to help him prepare for a bar mitzvah. He speaks to the rabbi in a nearby town and embraces this journey with seriousness. Still, what about everyone else? They town doesn't want to be known for hate. After a brainstorming session, Caroline and Michael have a plan. To understand how big six million is, they need to see this number. That's how many Jews were killed in the concentration camps. How can they make the number real? They decide to make a paper chain. Mathematically, this endeavour is impossible, but determination must mean something!I liked the novel a lot. Once you discover who the culprit is and the person's attitude, you see that some people can never understand WHY hate symbols are bad. You also see people who change; they realize hate must be faced, apologies made, and reach out to others to make society a better place. I enjoyed all of the characters, as they represent so many different types of people and reactions. The town comes together acknowledging their past and choosing forgiveness and love as their legacy even as they may have to let go of being the next tourist destination. You can't change everyone, but you can help a lot of people to see the harm that hate causes.

[true54blue · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I appreciate that Korman wanted to make a point with this book but the topic doesn't suit his writing style.