Internment by Samira Ahmed

Internment by Samira Ahmed is a powerful, gripping, and thought provoking novel.  It is one that will make you think about how you really view those around you.  It should encourage you to no longer remain silent, especially when speaking up is necessary.   This novel is a scary reflection of history and an even scarier look at what the future could be.

Internment is the story of what the United States has become in the near future.  The government has instituted a Muslim ban and as a result, seventeen year old Layla and her family are forced into an internment camp in the middle of the California desert.  In a terrifying reflection of the Holocaust, Layla and many other Muslims are forced from their homes, stamped with ID numbers, loaded into trains, and taken to live in hostile conditions.  Despite the dangers that she faces each day, Layla will not simply stand by and let all of this happen.  With the help of new friends she has made, Layla decides to be the voice that will not be silenced.  Through her words and actions, she tries to bring hope to a group who is grasping to find it.  The question remains whether she will be able to carry on, or will the harshness of the camp finally silence her once and for all?

From Amazon:

Rebellions are built on hope.

Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens.

With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp's Director and his guards.

Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today.