A review by serendipitysbooks
American Heart by Laura Moriarty

4.0

An all-too-believeable look at the future of America where all Muslims are being forcibly relocated to detainment camps in Nevada. Sarah-Mary is tricked by her younger brother into helping Sadaf escape to Canada. Through getting to know Sadaf, Sarah-Mary is forced to confront her beliefs about Muslims, which leads her to question the detainment camp policy as well. This book has come in for a lot of criticism which is I believe is unfounded. If this was the only story told then the publishing world could rightly be accused of racism and promoting a white saviour complex, but levelling the accusations against the author of one story seems unreasonable to me. Sarah-Mary (like many actual people) knows little about Muslims but by getting to know one woman she learns, and this leads her to question her previously held assumptions. Surely it is only by getting to know each other that we will all questions our assumptions and hopefully learn to get along better. If such a future were to eventuate surely we would want to celebrate and support anyone who tried to help and support Muslims? During World War II many different groups of people attempted to help Jews. If we would support such efforts should they be needed in the future then it is unreasonable to tear-down a fictional portrayal of them. I didn't think this book was perfect but I did enjoy large chunks of it, especially the suspense each time Sarah-Mary and Sadaf had to decide whether to accept a ride, or each time they felt they were in danger of being discovered. I look forward to reading more by this author, and also to reading more books by Muslim authors with different stories to tell of present and future American societies.