Kunkush The True Story of a Refugee Cat by Marne Ventura illustrated by Beidi Guo content consultant Yasmin Saikia PhD Professor of History Hardt Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies Arizona State University CAPSTONE PRESS a capstone imprint
The sky was dark The Aegean Sea splashed against the rubber boat Men and women huddled together in the cool November air Most wore life vests Many held babies and small children
A widow and her five children were among the families on the boat that night in 2015 They had fled their home in Mosul Iraq Islamist State extremists were fighting Iraqi soldiers for control of the city Tanks and soldiers with guns roamed the streets Bombs exploded and gunfire rang out all around A three year old Turkish Van cat named Kunkush crouched in a basket on the widow's lap The widow and her family had walked for much of the way to Turkey They couldn't bring their things from home but they refused to leave Kunkush behind
