First published 2015
Elsie Bovary lives a contented life grazing and gossiping with her friend Mallory until a nighttime adventure changes everything. While Mallory flirts with bulls from the neighboring farm, Elsie peers through the farmhouse window and watches the family's television. What she learns about industrial meat farms shatters her peaceful world. Elsie realizes she must escape before she becomes someone's dinner. She recruits two unlikely companions: Shalom, a pig who converted to Judaism and reads Torah, and Tom, a flightless turkey who operates smartphones with his beak. The trio steals passports and cobbles together human disguises for their airport getaway. Elsie narrates their journey with wisecracks and pop culture references while Tom offers psychiatric advice in a fake German accent. Their travels take them across the globe, with Shalom eventually reaching Jerusalem only to face rejection from his adopted faith. Yet his presence unexpectedly brings together Israelis and Palestinians. Through mishaps and revelations, these three farm animals discover that understanding and acceptance matter more than the differences that divide them.
Genres: fiction, animals, contemporary, comedy
Vibes: emotional, intimate, whimsical
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine
206 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux