Internment was an important novel about human rights, standing up for your rights and liberties, and the corruption that can happen within the government and those in power. I enjoyed, by enjoyed I do not mean happily enjoyed, it was difficult to read but an important subject to consider. The story was about Layla and her family as they were forced into an internment camp for Muslim’s that had answered the religion question on their Census honestly. The importance of young adults standing up for what they believe in and not letting their age stop them from doing so. I will be purchasing this for my personal library.

Whether used in a middle school class or in a book club at the library, this book has many important topics to discuss. Samira Ahmed’s narrative references the Japanese Internment Camps during World War II and parallels that historical atrocity to Layla’s experience, another comparison was to the Concentration Camps where Jews were persecuted and murdered for simply being Jews. The characters in the book responded in varied ways to their oppression and removal of their rights as American Citizens. Layla was afraid but did not let her fear stop her from standing up for what she believed in. Layla’s parents, David, Jake, and the other internees responded in many different ways as well, some of them were so fearful that they went along with everything, some even hated Layla and the other young adults for causing an upset in their camp. Another important topic would be how the United States allowed such atrocities to happen in the “Land of the Free” and to look at the possibility of such a thing happening here in America again. The parallel’s with the situations of unrest and mistreatment of minorities in America today makes the story extremely relevant.