The One and Only Ruby

Sequel to the Newbery Medal winner The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ruby tells the story of a young elephant named Ruby, whose life in the African savanna is cut tragically short by cruel poachers. Fortunately, Ruby is relocated from inhumane conditions, first in an American roadside zoo and then in a cage in a mall; she is brought to a sanctuary, where she is the youngest in the herd of elephants. Ruby’s important Tuskday ceremony approaches, but Ruby is feeling ambivalent about her tusks and about her induction into adulthood. She confides in her friends and family about the tragedy and loss she has experienced in her young life, which helps her to come to terms with her impending Tuskday, and to navigate this important ceremony with courage and style.

Other works by this author include Wishtree, Crenshaw, and Odder.

This guide references the 2023 Harper Collins Children’s Book edition.

Plot Summary

Ruby, a young elephant who lives in the WildWorld Zoological Park and Sanctuary, is nervous about her upcoming Tuskday ceremony. This is a rite of passage for all young elephants who are beginning to grow tusks, which is a sign of their coming of age. However, Ruby hides and sulks; in particular, she tries to avoid Aunt Akello, the matriarch of the Park Herd, who urges Ruby to prepare for Tuskday.

Ruby is shocked and thrilled when Jabori, a handler in an African baby elephant orphanage, tracks Ruby down and visits her at the sanctuary. However, Jabori’s visit also brings up some painful memories of her life in Africa as a baby elephant.

At the encouragement of her adoptive uncles, Uncle Ivan (a gorilla) and Uncle Bob (a dog), Ruby opens up about her painful past. Ruby’s mother was killed by ivory poachers, and then the orphanage where she lived was burned down by other poachers, separating her from Jabori and the other young elephants she had befriended. Ruby endured a long and uncomfortable journey over the sea in a dark, dung-filled crate, and was sold to a run-down road-side circus in America. The other elephant there, Fiona, was listless and despondent. When the circus went bankrupt, Ruby was moved to a cage in a highway-side mall and video arcade. Despite the abysmal conditions, Ruby was cared for by Stella, a loving older elephant who was already living in the mall cage. Ruby was also loved and cared for by her adoptive uncles, Uncle Ivan, a gorilla who lived in the adjacent enclosure, and Uncle Bob, a stray dog who slipped in and out of the cages.

Although Ruby is happy with her life in the sanctuary, she mourns the fact that Stella died before they could be relocated. She confronts and unpacks her grief by discussing Stella’s death with her uncles; this is a subject that Ivan and Ruby had previously avoided because it was too painful. By making the decision to open up about her feelings surrounding Stella’s death, as well as her ambivalence about her tusks due to her mother’s murder by poachers, Ruby is able to better understand and manage her emotions.

The morning of her Tuskday, still feeling reluctant and overwhelmed, Ruby tries to escape from the enclosure. She gets stuck in a hole in the fencing and is found by Aunt Akello, who sympathizes with Ruby’s hatred of her tusks; Akello’s mother and grandmother were also killed by ivory poachers. Akello uses one of her tusks to widen the hole in the fence, which frees Ruby, illustrating that tusks can be beneficial as well as a burden. Akello presents Ruby with the choice to continue with her plan to escape the enclosure and therefore to avoid her Tuskday, or to return to the enclosure and participate in the ceremony. Ruby returns to participate in her Tuskday ceremony.

During the ceremony, Aunt Akello, who has talked to Ivan and Bob about Ruby’s grief over Aunt Stella, symbolically includes Aunt Stella, inducting her into the Park Herd along with Ruby. Ruby reflects that Aunt Stella taught her important elephant wisdom that prepared her well for her Tuskday ceremony; this makes Ruby feel that Aunt Stella is still with her. Ruby vows to take care of others the way others have always taken care of her.

At the novel’s conclusion, Ruby, Ivan, and Bob joyfully exchange stories about Stella. Ruby reflects with gratitude on how lucky she is, and looks to the future with hope and contentment.