“Saying I hate the president . Ahmed (Love, Hate & Other Filters) sets her chilling novel in the very near future: two-and-a-half years after an election that brought about a Muslim ban, exclusion laws, and the internment Set “15 minutes” into the future, this must-read novel for young adults merges events that have already taken place in America — the separation of refugee families, the vilification of migrants, the rise of Islamophobia — with what they might lead to: the incarceration by the current regime of all Muslim Americans in detention camps as a “national security measure”. Samira Ahmed’s Internment is one of those rare works of fiction that hits a little too close to reality. Internment is a YA book that reminds readers how powerful communities and resistance can be. Layla and her family are interned in the California desert along with thousands of other Muslim Americans, but she refuses to accept the circumstances of her detention, plotting to take down the system. Ahmed deserves a spot on every book shelf in America. I knew what I was getting into, literally a quarter of my book cases are full with non-fiction or historical fictions that take place during the holocaust or WWI/WWII. Samira Ahmed has written a showstopping book about teens leading the resistance and making change. Set in a horrifying near-future-United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin is forced into an internment camp for Muslim-American citizens with her parents. ( Log Out /  Especially now. Internment by Samira Ahmed Young Adult / Contemporary Fiction 384 pages Published March 2019 This book should be required reading in schools. Content warnings: racism, islamophobia, internment camps, death/murder, torture, violence I really do not know how to write this review. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Author: Samira Ahmed Pages: 382 I had no naive ideas that this book would not be a hard read. Book Review. It’s chillingly plausible. Were they forced to comply? Neighbors are divided, and the government is going after resisters. Book review: “Internment” is packed with powerful emotion. One month since the President of the United States gave a televised speech to Congress to declare that, “Muslims are a threat to America.”. Our current political system is already putting undocumented immigrants in concentration camps. Low 23F. It should be exciting to see where these take her. Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian. But that’s minor quibble in the face of an excellent novel. This is a heart-rending and all-too-credible tale of sacrifice, the ugly face of authority and the courage of youth. 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. I don’t measure time by the old calendar anymore; I don’t look at the date. Internment is exactly the book I needed right now. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. "Internment is a visceral, essential book, both horrifying and hopeful. This March, we’re discussing four novels that can turn pretty grim at times, but always feel urgently human, including long-awaited returns to … Alex is ace/aro and biracial Black. Thanks to the @kidlitexchange network for the review copy of this book— all opinions are my own. . There is only what we once were and what we have become. This book shook me to my core. Layla is a hero worth rooting for, but Ahmed keeps her grounded in reality. Book Review: Internment by Samira Ahmed – Incisive, Deliberate, and Unforgettable. 978-0-316-52266-3 $9.99 Xenophobic fear-mongering, book burnings, terrified families rounded up in the middle of the night to be thrown into internment camps — all painfully familiar elements of America’s past and present — descend upon Layla Amin’s near-future dystopian world like a drizzle that steadily becomes a torrent. Nine months since the first book burning. Even then I had to close the book … This book debuted on the NYT YA Hardcover bestsellers list at #4 and has some serious reviews of its own. It’s a powerful novel, full of strife and fear and courage and resistance. Read Common Sense Media's Internment review, age rating, and parents guide. I was reading it thinking about how I’ve never read a novel about something that could so easily happen the next day. e-book ed. And given the dangerous rhetoric being pushed out by the administration around Islam – not to mention the Muslim bans already in place – the move to Muslim internment isn’t that much of a stretch. Her two books of nonfiction, Hidden History of Napa Valley and Lost Restaurants of Napa Valley and Their Recipes, are on sale now. I don’t measure time by the old calendar anymore; I don’t look at the date. She has a third book scheduled to come out later this year, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know. . Internment by Samira Ahmed Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia Publishing Info: March 2019 by Atom Pages: 386 Star Rating: 3/5 Back Cover Summary: Rebellions are built on hope. There, Muslim Americans cannot access any news from the outside world and are trapped under the unmitigated cruelty of the camp director and his white henchmen. The Resistance is alive, they say, but not in my town, and not on the nightly news. 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. Blurb: 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. Alexandria Brown is a librarian, local historian, author and writer, and an Ignyte Award winning critic. Five months since the Attorney General argued that Korematsu v United States established precedent for relocation of citizens during times of war. She leaves behind her ordinary teenage life and her Jewish boyfriend, but finds the will, and the allies, to resist oppression. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Two years since the Nazis marched on DC. Book Review: Internment – Samira Ahmed May 30, 2019 May 22, 2019 In a world reminiscent of Nazi Germany, families are rounded up in the night and put on trains with few belongings and no idea where they are going. used to be free speech,” Layla fumes, “but qualifies as treason now . Internment book. It could be paired with Anne Frank. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Internment is a best book for discussion, a young adult novel set in a future United States, where a teenage girl is forced into an internment camp for Muslim Americans. Muslims are being rounded up, their books burned, and their bodies encoded with identification numbers. Today’s Paper ... the easternmost of the 10 internment camps established by order of President Roosevelt. One year since our answers on the Census landed us on the Registry. The internment … ( Log Out /  They’re still happening, the protests, turned riots, even if the mainstream media won’t cover them. Internment has -1 reviews and 0 ratings. But she is just one piece in a very large system. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The book was too raw, too crass it felt like it was throwing its beliefs at me- It is raw at times and in your face but if you were inside the internment camp it would be in your face, you would be in the middle of the violence, you would feel the oppression, this book is not about beliefs its about right and wrong. The writing is sharp and visceral, with a tone and pacing that makes it impossible to put down. "— p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Kiersten White, New York Times Bestselling author of And I Darken and The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein The book was too raw, too crass it felt like it was throwing its beliefs at me- It is raw at times and in your face but if you were inside the internment camp it would be in your face, you would be in the middle of the violence, you would feel the oppression, this book is not about beliefs its about right and wrong. Two months since a virulent Islamophobe was sworn in as Secretary of War—a cabinet position that hasn’t existed since World War Two. Follow Punk-Ass Book Jockey on WordPress.com. High 39F. Most of the novel takes place in a new camp built next door to Manzanar, one of the most well-known Japanese-American internment camps in California during World War II. 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Layla, her new friends Ayesha and Soheil and a sympathetic guard use every social media technique at their disposal to fight back. This novel deserves a permanent place on all bookshelves. Lake Effect's Joy Powers speaks with Shirley Ann Higuchi and Kathy Saito Yuille about Higuchi's new book exploring the effects of Japanese internment. Depending on how you look at it, an actual present. After all, she is only a teenager. I'm not sure when I first learned about the Japanese internment camps in the US, but it was long enough ago that it seems rather odd that it took me this long to read an official book on the matter. And some people still think this is a democracy.” Ahmed shows the heterogeneity of the jailed co-religionists, who hail from many different cultures and backgrounds. With the support for freedom for Muslim Americans, she helps lead the rebellion against internment camps. Do the world a favor and buy this from an indie bookstore or borrow it from your local public library. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The book was too raw, too crass it felt like it was throwing its beliefs at me- It is raw at times and in your face but if you were inside the internment camp it would be in your face, you would be in the middle of the violence, you would feel the oppression, this book is not about beliefs its about right and wrong. Rebellions are built on hope. Internment by Samira Ahmed, 9780349003344, ... Review Text. Two and half years since the election. His books of poetry are among the books by Muslim authors that are burned at the beginning of the novel. Change ). Although it’s technically set in a not too distant future, it’s almost like it’s set in an alternate present. 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.”. Even though she has a small connection to the outside through a double agent and her white boyfriend, she is as trapped as everyone else. May 5, 2019 July 16, 2020 Joce (squibblesreads) 3 Comments. “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. Rebellions are built on hope, but they’re fought with the belief that we can be better than we are. Layla Amin: Layla is a seventeen-year-old Muslim American girl who was forced to live at Camp Mobias, an unjust internment camp along with other Muslim Americans. Internment is exactly the book I needed right now. If this is dystopian fiction, the scenario it describes is only a few steps away from the present. Cloudy. Alexis Dick, Reporter | September 21, 2019. Release Date: March 19, 2019 I don’t mean that dismissively; teens can accomplish a helluva lot. As much as Layla stands up to her oppressors, she also understands her lone actions cannot stop systemic oppression, not without help from both her own Muslim community and non-Muslims. The New York Times Book Review - Jennifer Hubert Swan ★ 01/07/2019 Ahmed ( Love, Hate & Other Filters ) sets her chilling novel in the very near future: two-and-a-half years after an election that brought about a Muslim ban, Exclusion laws, and the internment of Muslims in a disturbing echo of the Japanese internments of the 1940s. To dismantle that requires help from all sides, help she’s willing to accept. First, this book completely hooks readers with it’s premise that seems all too possible. We follow the story of 17-year-old Layla, of Indian descent, who is transported with her parents to a camp at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, near where Japanese Americans were interned after Pearl Harbor. This is a fictional story by Jamie Ford that talks about a character named Henry Lee and the book starts in the year of 1986 but there are flashbacks that happen during the World War II that has a lot to do with the current story and the Japanese internment camps. 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. Internment by Samira Ahmed Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Published: March 19th, 2019 by Atom Links: Amazon // Goodreads Rating: 4/5 stars Summary: Rebellions are built on hope. Some Muslim internees are also turned into enforcers – one family leads each “neighborhood” and use enticements to enforce compliance – but this doesn’t quite get enough nuance. ( Log Out /  Samira has created a chilling, powerful, ... religions and nations, Internment is a powerful and relevant book that reads less like a piece of fiction and more a scarily plausible future scenario. The family is forced onto a train, taken to an internment camp, and tattooed with ID numbers. Sign up to get the best reviewed books of the week delivered every Monday morning - Teens fight back in chilling, timely dystopian thriller. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Three months since they started firing Muslims from public sector jobs. She’s clever and intelligent, but definitely not a superhero. ... For all collections.” —School Library Journal, starred review “Internment is a visceral, essential book, both horrifying and hopeful. Updated: December 13, 2020 @ … This compelling book by Samira Ahmed is a terrifying what-if of a possibly not so distant future. We DO have concentration camps on… How do they feel about the situation? Internment even had its film options sold prior to release. Are they exempt from prosecution? Director: Director is the leader of Camp Mobias. With the help of newly… ( Log Out /  One history, one a possible future. Rebellions are built on hope, but they’re fought with the belief that we can be better than we are. along with news, insight and charts from the BIM database. Some did fight it. YA book reviews: Internment, Shout, and more EW is here to provide reviews and recommendations for the biggest new YA titles. . But you’d be surprised how quickly armed military and pepper spray shuts down the well-meaning protests of liberals in small, leafy towns. Read 2,821 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Publisher: Atom In a near-future United States, Layla and her family, along with many other Muslim Americans, are forced into an internment camp. She isn’t the Chosen One, but a girl with guts and drive. We needed more on why they were working with the director and how those agreements were made. Set “15 minutes” into the future, this must-read novel for young adults merges events that have already taken place in America — the separation of refugee families, the vilification of migrants, the rise of Islamophobia — with what they might lead to: the incarceration by the current regime of all Muslim Americans in detention camps as a “national security measure”. It’s a powerful novel, full of strife and fear and courage and resistance. I thought our little liberal college town would fight it longer, hold out. © 2020 The Bookseller, The Stage Media Company Ltd. . Charged with emotion, powerful characters and courageous rebellion, “Internment” is a captivating book. There is only then and now. Much of her writing covers Black history, librarianship, YA, and speculative fiction. Layla’s block captain is an asshole and his wife seems put-upon and conflicted, but they just aren’t shaded out enough for the eventual climax between Layla and them to mean much. Probable, even. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford Henry Lee.