Internment by Samira Ahmed
On the cover of the first printing of Internment, there is a young woman dressed in all black, a brick wall and red barb wire seemingly painted across her torso, and we also see the moon and stars. However, this book has been defined by this young woman wearing a cap that states, “RESIST”. In one word, the cover encapsulates the themes and premise of Samira Ahmed’s novel that “takes place fifteen minutes into the future,” referencing President Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban.
Layla Amin’s family is torn from their home and sent to a faraway internment camp with other Muslims. She and a newfound friend see the prejudice as Exclusion Guards maintain the army-like order of the camp. Especially when the Director talks down to the internees and enforces his rules with acts of violence, Layla yearns for the normalcy of school and meeting up with her boyfriend, David, who is not Muslim. However, there will never be the same normalcy.
Before all hope is lost, one Exclusion Guard becomes the middle-man between seventeen-year-olds Layla and David, even sneaking him inside the internment camp. Though Layla is only one internee out of thousands, she resists the hate and violence. Even when stakes rise to terrifying heights, she resists.
Ahmed has written a novel that is timely and realistic. At the end of the book, Ahmed acknowledges the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII. Today, we are living in a time in which Internment is a very real story for some people, for all Americans. With the Muslim Ban, or Travel Ban, in place, it is so easy to see the actual fear some people—and the government—have about Muslims.
This novel is scary because of how much truth rests in its pages. Ahmed is both political and emotional. She is vulnerable through the eyes of Layla and other internees. She is calling for action: resist.