PJ Library will host its second-ever PJ Our Way program, “Lunch & Linked,” a conversation with Gordon Korman, author of “Linked.”
The program will be on Sunday, April 7, at The J (5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park, KS 66211) from 12:30 to 3 p.m.
PJ Our Way is an extension of PJ Library, allowing children ages 9-12 to select books by Jewish authors with Jewish themes to receive each month. Children as young as eight years old are invited to this event to introduce them to PJ Our Way, which they can join when they’re three months shy of their ninth birthday.
The event will kick off with a kosher pizza lunch, followed by “chat and chew” sessions led by alumni of Jewish Community Relations Bureau | American Jewish Committee’s (JCRB|AJC) Leaders for Tomorrow (LFT) program. Discussions and activities for children will focus on the themes of “Linked,” which include antisemitism, Jewish identity and Holocaust education.
The teens are being trained in the use of a discussion guide created by reading coach and literacy consultant Daniella Silver, herself a PJ Our Way mom. Silver has been reading the book with her daughter as she prepares the reading guide.
While kids are in smaller discussion groups with LFT teens, parents are invited to a discussion led by Shelly Cline of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education (MCHE) about how parents can help their kids deal with the book’s themes.
Despite its serious topic, “Linked” is intended to be a fun and easy read for middle-grade children. The plot includes middle school shenanigans and practical jokes typical of Korman’s work, in addition to serious questions about tolerance, acceptance and identity.
“We have been in talks with Gordon Korman about this event for close to a year – well before the events of Oct. 7,” said Kansas City PJ Library Coordinator Bridey Stangler. “None of us could have expected how much more important it is now to share our kids’ experiences with Jewish identity and antisemitism.”
Registration details are available at tinyurl.com/3xsm7sh4, and the book is available for free to anyone who needs it. “Linked” is also available in audiobook form through the Johnson County Library.
