Michael returns to school for his forgotten phone and discovers a red swastika spray-painted on the atrium wall.

A second swastika appears painted across the school's baseball championship banner during an assembly, leaving students genuinely afraid.

Link's mother reveals that his grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, the only member of her Jewish family to survive.

Link seeks out Dana at school, reveals he has discovered he is Jewish, and asks her to help him understand his heritage.

At the student council meeting, Michael proposes creating a paper chain with six million links to honor Holocaust victims.

Principal Brademas cancels the paper chain project after the entire school district runs out of construction paper.

Students block custodians from dismantling the paper chain, and donated construction paper arrives to keep the project going.

A news crew filming the paper chain warehouse discovers three new swastikas painted on a cement wall.

Pamela is found with lilac paint and a wet brush matching the most recent swastika and is arrested.

Adam reveals in an on-camera interview with Link that security footage proves Link painted the original swastika.

Link phones Rabbi Gold to confess he painted the first swastika, and the rabbi decides to proceed with the bar mitzvah.

A blizzard buries Chokecherry on the morning of the bar mitzvah; Dana arrives in a university snowplow to bring Link to school.

Link gives a speech of apology to the packed school auditorium before completing his Torah recitation.

The town votes unanimously to build a tolerance museum featuring the paper chain, the rescued Torah, and burnt crosses.

The story begins when Michael discovers a red swastika on the school atrium wall, an act Link later reveals he committed out of anger. When a second swastika appears during an assembly, the community grows genuinely afraid and students unite around Michael's idea to build a paper chain of six million links. The project draws video blogger Adam Tok, whose coverage helps the chain grow but also destabilizes the community. A news crew discovers more swastikas at the warehouse, and Pamela is arrested after being caught with matching paint. Adam then exposes Link as the original vandal, forcing Link to confess to Rabbi Gold and face his community. Despite a blizzard and the weight of his guilt, Link completes his bar mitzvah in front of a packed auditorium, and the town commits to building a tolerance museum.

The headline events that drive Chokecherry's response to hate.

Link and his friends pull a fertilizer prank at the paleontology office; Link is caught alone holding the bag.

Principal Brademas announces a three-week tolerance education unit at a school assembly following the swastika's discovery.

Students learn about the Holocaust in class and hear about a Tennessee middle school that collected six million paper clips.

A local newspaper contradicts Link's father by reporting on the Night of a Thousand Flames, a past KKK gathering.

A third swastika is found painted in white on a school dumpster as a delivery truck pulls away.

Link tells his parents he wants a bar mitzvah; his father objects but eventually relents after Link explains his reasons.

Dana develops severe swastika anxiety and asks her father whether the family might be transferred away from Chokecherry.

The paper chain project officially launches, with Michael appointed art director and Caroline appointed project manager.

Another swastika is found burned into a lab table with acid, pushing more students to join the paper chain project.

Link shows his father an online video of Adam Tok mocking Chokecherry, and his father responds by suing Adam.

The paper chain surpasses one million links and must be relocated from the gym to an off-campus storage facility.

Michael, Link, and Caroline hold a Zoom call with Holocaust survivors, who ask the students to write family members' names on links.

Link brings his visiting grandmother to see the paper chain; she shares her story of growing up in an orphanage without knowing her family.

Pamela admits to painting all the swastikas except the very first one.

After Link completes his bar mitzvah recitation, his classmates lift him onto their shoulders and carry him out of the auditorium.

The story's secondary thread begins with Link being caught after a fertilizer prank, setting the stage for his father's frustration with him. As the school launches a tolerance education unit, students learn about the Holocaust and the Tennessee paper clip project that eventually inspires their own paper chain. More swastikas keep appearing despite the unit, and Link's decision to pursue a bar mitzvah surprises his parents and friends while the paper chain grows rapidly but hits obstacles. A Zoom call with Holocaust survivors transforms the students' understanding of what the chain represents, and Link's grandmother's visit becomes a powerful moment of personal connection to the project. Pamela's confession and the discovery of her motives deepen the community's reckoning with its own history. Link's completed bar mitzvah, celebrated by the whole town, brings this secondary arc of growth and connection to its emotional conclusion.

The secondary moments that shape the community's journey.

Michael is questioned as a suspect for the swastika despite pointing out he is Dominican American with no motive.

Jordie is questioned by police after the second swastika is painted in roofing tar, the same material his father works with.

Pouncey quietly reveals to Link and Jordie that his grandfather and father were both present at the Night of a Thousand Flames.

Link invites Dana to his bar mitzvah at lunch and asks her to help him prepare for the ceremony.

Caroline organizes the student council meeting and spreads word of Link's attendance, drawing forty students to participate.

Link notices that Pamela's facial expression contradicts her spoken words of support for his bar mitzvah.

Michael mentally runs through a list of potential suspects for the swastikas, considering each person's possible motive.

Link's father takes him shopping for a bar mitzvah suit, and Link privately feels himself crossing into a new stage of life.

Adam interviews the town's sheriff on camera; the sheriff firmly pushes back against characterizations of Chokecherry as a racist community.

Dana learns Pamela has been identified as the swastika painter and is shocked that an early project volunteer was responsible.

Dana concludes Adam must have known Pamela was responsible for weeks and deliberately withheld the information to grow his audience.

Pamela phones Link after they are both publicly exposed, claiming they were on the same team; Link firmly rejects her and hangs up.

Dana takes a mental health day and discovers the remains of burnt crosses from the Night of a Thousand Flames during a paleontology dig.

Dana returns home from the dig to find Link waiting on her porch and realizes his remorse is genuine.

Link stands in the school atrium where he painted the first swastika and finally feels it is truly gone.

The story's pivotal moments begin with Michael coming under suspicion and Jordie being questioned by police, while Pouncey's quiet revelation about his family's presence at the Night of a Thousand Flames hints at the town's buried history. Subtle clues accumulate as Link notices Pamela's contradictory expression and Michael mentally works through a list of possible culprits. The investigation and the paper chain project build in parallel until Dana recognizes that Adam has been deliberately withholding information about Pamela to craft a dramatic narrative for his audience. Link's guilt is fully exposed, forcing him to make a decisive break from Pamela and confront his community with honesty. Dana's discovery of the burnt crosses at the dig site forces Chokecherry to finally reckon with its past, and Link's sincere apology to Dana clears the way for her to rally the town on his behalf. Link's completed bar mitzvah and his moment of quiet resolution in the atrium mark the story's true emotional turning point.