Internment: Chapters 17–22

by Samira Ahmed
Layla Amin thinks of herself as a typical American teenager. But when Muslim-Americans like Layla and her family are forcibly relocated to internment camps, the seventeen-year-old decides to fight for her freedom.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–16, Chapters 17–22, Chapters 23–28, Chapters 29–36

Here is a link to our lists for Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. intercede
    act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
    I write about life inside Mobius. About Noor. About the brave women who tried to intercede.
  2. bittersweet
    tinged with sadness
    His kiss is feather-light, and there is a kind of beautiful and bittersweet magic in it.
  3. flummox
    be a mystery or bewildering to
    Jake pauses, waiting for David to leave before he takes my elbow and directs me back through the main dining hall and outdoors. He’s the one I’m most flummoxed by in all of this.
  4. auspices
    kindly endorsement and guidance
    “It’s all under the auspices of the secretary of war, but it’s made up of Homeland Security guys. CIA and FBI, too. You need to understand that the president operates like the Constitution is a blank slate. His party holds the Senate and the House. No one is challenging him. People won’t even call him out on his blatant lies.”
  5. blatant
    without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious
    “It’s all under the auspices of the secretary of war, but it’s made up of Homeland Security guys. CIA and FBI, too. You need to understand that the president operates like the Constitution is a blank slate. His party holds the Senate and the House. No one is challenging him. People won’t even call him out on his blatant lies.”
  6. benevolence
    an inclination to do kind or charitable acts
    He knows we fear him, or at least his “consequences,” so he can afford to show a sort of twisted benevolence by letting us have certain freedoms in the camp.
  7. conducive
    tending to bring about; being partly responsible for
    They brought in soil for this project because the desert dirt wasn’t conducive to growing things.
  8. quash
    put down by force or intimidation
    The red metal of the drone glints in the blazing sun; I shield my eyes from the light and stare at the mechanical spy as if it has eyes. I grit my teeth and quash an impulse to throw a trowel at it.
  9. toil
    work hard
    We toil away for a couple hours in the heat, sweating and even finding moments to laugh.
  10. coercion
    using force to cause something to occur
    It’s coercion.
  11. dissent
    the act of protesting
    “Look, the Director—he’s talking about bringing more guards in here. He feels the rumblings in the camp, an air of dissent. He’s vindictive and petty, but he’s not stupid. Remember that young Arab American woman they dragged away—” My muscles go taut; I clench my hands into fists.
  12. sacrosanct
    treated as if holy and kept free from violation or criticism
    “Yes. It should. Look, it took me a long time to get to this. Too long. It’s what I was saying before. I grew up military. Orders were sacrosanct in my house. But I received counterorders, too. Being in here. Meeting you and the others. I finally understood the real mission, my sworn duty to protect this country from enemies foreign and domestic.”
  13. trifle
    consider not very seriously
    “I need you to understand. The Director? What he said to you the other day? He won’t be trifled with. He will hurt you, and I might not be able to stop him. And I can’t—”
    Tears well in my eyes.
  14. confidant
    someone to whom private matters are told
    I look at him and see a guy a few years older than me.
    Someone who, in a different world, would be walking across the same college campus, who might help me find my way the first week of freshman year, the handsome senior who’s the RA in my dorm. A friend. A confidant.
  15. abut
    lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
    The small table abuts the wall of the trailer and sits beneath a window.
  16. subversive
    in opposition to an established system or government
    “It’s about a young woman, Anne Elliot, who is very modern in her own way. It’s about characters not merely finding themselves but remaining true to who they are. In some ways, at the time, it was considered quite subversive,” my dad says, holding eye contact with me.
  17. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
    David breaks from our embrace. “I know he’s helped us, but are you sure you can trust him? That this isn’t all a ruse?”
  18. raspy
    unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
    My breath goes raspy, like there’s not enough air to breathe in the room.
  19. ascertain
    learn or discover with confidence
    “Yes, we want to make sure Miss Amin wasn’t hurt because of this little snafu. We are simply trying to ascertain who might be spreading these lies about Mobius.”
  20. breach
    a failure to perform some promised act or obligation
    “Look, there’s the Red Cross visit tomorrow. The Director is tense. He wants to put on a good show. He can’t afford to look like he’s not in control. Command will be breathing down his neck with the information breach in here. So you’ll be okay for now. And after that, well...I’ll figure something out.”
  21. confines
    a bounded scope
    This place is already a prison, but when my parents learn what I’ve done, they won’t let me leave the claustrophobic confines of this trailer.
  22. pretense
    the act of giving a false appearance
    And it will work because, more and more, he wears his hatred on his face, losing the pretense of civility.
  23. willful
    habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition
    The Director continues: “It is up to you, fellow citizens of Mobius, to out this hateful fearmonger who has so willfully disrupted the order in our peaceful community...."
  24. idyllic
    excellent and delightful in all respects
    We will show them the many benefits of our idyllic camp.
  25. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
    My parents’ faces are ashen.
  26. hearten
    give encouragement to
    He means his words to be reassuring, but I don’t think any words could possibly sound heartening right now.
  27. catalyst
    something that causes an important event to happen
    There were already people coming together to raise their voices, but your words—you—were a catalyst.
  28. exploit
    use or manipulate to one's advantage
    Occupy Mobius—that coalition of resistance groups—organized a protest. Their hashtag is trending. They’re exploiting a flaw in the executive order.
  29. revue
    a variety show with topical sketches and songs
    The Red Cross will be spending the day at Mobius—visiting the clinic, the garden, the playground; watching some kind of star-spangled patriotic revue the early-childhood teachers put together; touring Block 1, where the Mercury Homes have been specially scrubbed and prepped for the visit.
  30. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    “And why should we believe that?” Soheil is incredulous. He should be. He’s being smart.
  31. raze
    tear down so as to make flat with the ground
    Ayesha winks at me. “It takes a village to raze a camp.”
  32. countermand
    cancel officially
    I have new orders now that countermand the illegal orders that started this camp.
  33. resolute
    firm in purpose or belief
    “Let’s do this,” I say, trying to sound resolute.
  34. meticulous
    marked by precise accordance with details
    I write about the Red Cross and the threatening announcement and the meticulous preparation for the visit that is supposed to showcase Mobius as a camp upon which all future camps can be modeled.
  35. telltale
    disclosing unintentionally
    The Director excuses himself and walks to our table. He’s still grinning, but telltale angry red blotches have traveled from his neck to his face.
  36. cordon
    a series of sentinels or posts enclosing some place or thing
    I look up and see that the members of the Red Cross form a cordon between us and the Director, who is raging at them, his face nearly crimson.
  37. eddy
    a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind
    The dust kicks up around us, swirling in eddies, and the air trembles with a thwip thwip thwip as a helicopter flies overhead.
  38. billowing
    characterized by great swelling waves or surges
    Emergency vehicles race up the road to Mobius, and protestors cover their mouths and noses with bandannas or tuck their faces into their shirts to avoid the billowing clouds of dirt.
  39. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    I take a few tentative sips and then drink the entire glass in a long gulp. It’s the first time I’m aware of being thankful for clean, cool water.
  40. livid
    furiously angry
    Perhaps she believes that acting the part of the livid parent will make the consequences less severe for me, show that I was merely being a ridiculous child, that I’m not a threat.
Created on Mon Apr 29 13:50:50 EDT 2019 (updated Tue Apr 30 09:17:00 EDT 2019)

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