The One and Only Ruby

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Synopsis

Ruby enjoys spending time with her best friends, Ivan the gorilla and Bob the dog, as well as her new herd at the wildlife park where she went to live after the circus she was a part of at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade was shut down. But a part of her still misses her former life on the African Savannah. She also misses her old friend, Stella, from the circus. As Ruby's tusks come in, her herd wants to celebrate this milestone with a Tuskday ceremony, an important rite of passage for young elephants. But because she remembers her life in Africa, she also remembers the dangers that having tusks can bring to an elephant, which gives her mixed feelings about celebrating something that's caused her pain in the past. But after sharing her story with the ones she loves, Ruby just might find the courage she needs to embrace all of herself.

Review

The One and Only Ruby is the third book in Katherine Applegate's The One and Only middle grade book series. It tells the story of Ruby, the little elephant who provided the motivation for Ivan to do something big that would help himself, Ruby, and Bob to escape the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade in The One and Only Ivan and find better lives. Ruby has been living at the wildlife park along with Ivan for a while, where she's been slowly growing up. Her tusks are starting to come in, and all of her aunts (the adult female elephants) at the park have been planning Ruby's Tuskday celebration, a rite of passage for young elephants. But Ruby still has traumatic memories of her life on the African Savannah and the poachers who killed elephants, including her mom, for their tusks. She doesn't understand why she should want to celebrate something that brought her and other elephants pain or even death, so she's trying to avoid it and thinking of possibly running away. She also deeply misses Stella, the older elephant who was a foster mom to her at the mall before passing away, but Ivan, who also misses his old friend, is reluctant to talk about her. Eventually Ruby relates her pre-captivity story to her Uncle Ivan, Ivan's new mate, Kinyani, and her Uncle Bob, who all lend a sympathetic ear, but when the big day comes, she's still reluctant to go through with the Tuskday celebration until her Aunt Akello, who has always intimidated her, imparts some wisdom. Then Ruby sees just how beautiful the celebration can be.

Ruby has drawn my affection since the first book of the series for being so cute and lovable. She was only a baby when she came to the mall and met Ivan, Bob, and Stella. Now she's two years old and understandably has unpleasant feelings about her impending Tuskday ceremony. Her backstory is heartbreaking much the same way Ivan's and Bob's were, losing her mom when she was still too little to care for herself. She was taken in by kind humans at the elephant orphanage, but following a fire there, she was captured and sold to a circus, eventually ending up at the mall. Now she lives a more carefree life at the wildlife park. It's not as good as being in the wild, but there are dangers in the wild that she doesn't have to worry about now. I like that Ruby was able to talk to her friends about the pain of the past and receive comfort from them. It doesn't put all her concerns to rest, but one of her aunts who is the leader of the herd patiently explains things to her, so that she's able to go through with it. The ceremony is a lovely recognition, not only of Ruby's future, but of the spirits of those she's lost along the way to where she is now. Overall, The One and Only Ruby was a beautiful story that honors all this little elephant has gone through in her life. It has left me very much looking forward to the final book of the series, The One and Only Family, to see how things wrap-up for these three animal friends.

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Katherine Applegate

Patricia Castelao @ GoodReads