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57 pages 1 hour read

Katherine Applegate

The One and Only Family

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2024

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Part 1, Chapters 1-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “The Wait”

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Hello”

Ivan introduces himself as a gorilla who is about to become a father, adding that he’s “hoping it’s as easy as it looks” (3).

Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “A Dad Is a Dad Is a Dad”

Ivan isn’t worried about having a newborn, though he is concerned about two-year-olds. From his home in the zoo, he observes all kinds of creatures and has concluded that “whatever your species, there’s no force of nature more terrifying than a toddler tantrum” (4).

Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “Confident”

Despite his worries, Ivan is “confident [he] can manage a youngster” (5), believing that all he has to do is make rules that will then be followed.

Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “Where to Find Me”

For those wanting to see him, Ivan gives directions to his enclosure. He’s near the elephants and reptiles—“[I]f you pass the gift shop, you’ve gone too far” (6).

Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “Never”

When Ivan was younger, he never thought that he’d grow up or become a dad. As he’s learned, “when time tells a story, surprises are the one thing you can count on” (7).

Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary: “Old Names, New Names”

Ivan reflects on how he’s always been just Ivan but that he will soon also be called “Dad.” His friend Bob the dog calls him “big daddy,” and in the words, Ivan hears “gentle teasing and the same wonderment that [he] feel[s]” (8).

Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary: “It’s a Long Story”

Ivan and Bob met when Bob was a stray pup and Ivan lived in a rundown combination zoo/arcade. Neither of them likes to think about that time. Instead, they focus on how good their lives are now because they are loved. After all, “that’s all that matters” (9).

Part 1, Chapter 8 Summary: “Unprepared”

Ivan is a silverback gorilla—meaning that he is meant to lead a troop. While Ivan was at the arcade zoo, the silver hair signaling his transition to adulthood sprouted on his back. He didn’t feel ready for the responsibility that it symbolized and was thankful that “on the days when [he] couldn’t, [he] had friends who believed in [him]” (10).

Part 1, Chapter 9 Summary: “Threads”

Ivan doesn’t know what brought him and his friends together. Whatever it was, he’s thankful and amazed at “the tangled threads that wove [them] into something stronger than [their] individual selves” (12).

Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary: “A Creature of Habit”

Bob warns Ivan that once he becomes a father, he won’t be in charge of his time anymore. Ivan counters that, as a silverback, he is a leader and will be able to structure his days how he wants. Bob counters that Ivan is a creature of habit whose world will be turned upside down. Ivan considers this and concludes that Bob is right. For example, just that morning, Ivan “spent an entire hour delighting in the perfect symmetry of a dew-dappled alabaster rose. Then [he] ate it” (15).

Part 1, Chapter 11 Summary: “Transplanted”

Though Ivan was born in the wild, he has spent most of his life around humans. He knows that this has changed him as a gorilla, but he doesn’t quite know how. Without other gorillas to learn from, Ivan wasn’t sure how to become a gorilla. As he says, “We all learn from example. But what if there is no example to follow?” (16)

Part 1, Chapter 12 Summary: “Secrets”

Ivan’s mate is named Kinyani. Like Ivan, she had a difficult past, which she doesn’t like to discuss. Ivan understands. He doesn’t like to talk about his past either, which makes him wonder “if everyone carries the weight of secret sadness with them” (19).

Part 1, Chapter 13 Summary: “Too Many Mangoes”

When Kinyani first got pregnant, neither she nor Ivan realized it. Both of them had put on a few pounds from eating a lot of mangos. They dismissed the weight gain, at least until “the demon dolls arrived” (20).

Part 1, Chapter 14 Summary: “Maya”

Maya is Ivan’s favorite zookeeper and a friend. She cares for the gorillas but also challenges them with puzzles and interesting ways to get their food, which Ivan doesn’t mind because “that’s how it would be in the wild” (22).

Part 1, Chapter 15 Summary: “Lots of Fuzz”

One day, Maya throws a stuffed toy baby gorilla into Ivan and Kinyani’s enclosure. Neither knows what to make of it or why it’s there. Finally, Kinyani asks Ivan to “get rid of that demon doll” because it freaks her out (24). Ivan argues that it reminds him of Not-Tag, a stuffed gorilla he used to have at the arcade zoo.

Part 1, Chapter 16 Summary: “Not-Tag”

Ivan named his old stuffed gorilla Not-Tag after his sister, Tag. For years, Not-Tag was his best friend and a comfort. Though Ivan loved Not-Tag, he eventually gave her to Bob “when […] he needed comforting even more than [Ivan] did” (26).

Part 1, Chapter 17 Summary: “The Betrayal”

Bob’s humans tried to throw Not-Tag away once. Bob rescued her just in time, and Ivan’s “still not sure he’s entirely forgiven his humans” (27).

Part 1, Chapter 18 Summary: “Tag”

Tag and Ivan were twins. Where Ivan was quiet and liked to draw, Tag loved to run and play tag, for which she was named. The two were nothing alike, but regardless, for Ivan, “Tag was [his] mirror, [his] mooring, [his] heart made whole” (29).

Part 1, Chapter 19 Summary: “Me-Balls and Mystery”

Maya brings Ivan and Kinyani another demon doll. Kinyani tosses it in a pile of poop balls, but Ivan cleans it and puts it with the other. The gorillas speculate about why Maya brought the dolls. Ivan concludes that they might be for them to hold on to, to which Kinyani replies, “That […] is why we have each other” (32).

Part 1, Chapter 20 Summary: “A Dog of the Streets”

Bob was taken in by the daughter of a man who works at Ivan’s zoo, and she sometimes brings him to visit. One day, Bob, Ivan, and their elephant friend, Ruby, are discussing the demon dolls, and Bob realizes that they are meant to prepare Ivan and Kinyani for becoming parents. Bob and Ruby discuss what to call Ivan when he becomes a dad. Ivan swears that he passes out.

Part 1, Chapter 21 Summary: “Practice”

Ivan runs back to Kinyani, where he breathlessly tries to tell her Bob’s theory about the dolls. Before he manages to, Kinyani looks at him with a smile that says that “[their] lives are about to forever change” (39).

Part 1, Chapter 22 Summary: “The…You Know”

Kinyani has known she’s pregnant since the vets did her checkup the other day. Though she isn’t fluent in human, she knows that “‘mama’ means the same thing for a whole lot of species” (40). When Ivan asks why she didn’t tell him, she says that she’d planned to and that, naturally, Bob beat her to it.

Part 1, Chapter 23 Summary: “Snakes, Woodpeckers, and Burps”

Ivan details how he learned to understand human language by associating “s” sounds with snakes, “t” sounds with woodpeckers, and “b” sounds with burps. Ivan has also noticed how much humans don’t get along due to misunderstandings. He concludes that “it must be exhausting, being human” (42).

Part 1, Chapter 24 Summary: “Gorillas Rule”

Ivan explains that gorillas are very efficient communicators. Unlike humans and chimps, they don’t chatter incessantly. Rather, Ivan can use simple gestures to convey complex concepts and “say more with a carefully nuanced grunt than the average human can say with a thousand words” (43).

Part 1, Chapter 25 Summary: “Picking Your Battles”

Kinyani grows grumpier the longer she’s pregnant. Ivan tries to help but quickly realizes that this means staying quiet. One day, he asks when the baby might come. Kinyani glares at him, and Ivan decides that he “would never be asking that particular question again” (46).

Part 1, Chapter 26 Summary: “Things We Should Know”

Faced with not knowing how to help Kinyani through her pregnancy, Ivan wishes that his troop was larger and had more females. Ivan makes nests, shares food, and hopes that “this little one arrives sooner rather than later” (49).

Part 1, Chapter 27 Summary: “Wondering”

Ivan isn’t sure why humans are so fascinated by gorillas, as they aren’t fancy or interesting to watch. Mostly, Ivan stares at the humans. Sometimes, one stares back, and Ivan wonders if they are also asking “why humans are on one side of the glass and [he is] on the other” (51).

Part 1, Chapter 28 Summary: “New and Improved”

With the baby coming, the gorilla enclosure is enlarged, and a second floor is added from which Ivan can see a movie screen that humans can watch. Ivan sees animals he doesn’t know, as well as his friends, on the screen. One day, he sees himself and Kinyani and thinks, “I must say, we make a lovely couple” (53).

Part 1, Chapters 1-28 Analysis

Applegate uses short chapters that convey a small amount of information at a time to make the narrative accessible to young readers. The prose also emulates an animal’s nature. Ivan’s short, to-the-point sections reveal his simpler, but not less intelligent, character. In contrast, a human narrator may narrate longer, complex chapters with many conflicting thoughts.

Through language, Applegate shows Ivan’s laidback, contemplative personality. He takes his time to explore concepts and explains them in ways that are easy to understand and specific to him. For example, Ivan’s description of studying a rose for an hour and then eating it reveals his quiet, thoughtful intelligence. He enjoys the mental pursuit of simple ideas until he’s done with them, after which he fulfills his basic needs, such as eating. By establishing Ivan’s character in this way, Applegate plants the seeds for how foreign becoming a father is to everything Ivan knows. His frantic reaction to the news of Kinyani’s pregnancy is the exact opposite of his usual easygoing nature, foreshadowing how Ivan’s life and way of thinking change once the twins come along.

Applegate sprinkles important details about Ivan’s past throughout the book. In these chapters, she focuses on Ivan’s memories of the arcade zoo and how he met Bob and Ruby, characters who become important to his understanding of parenthood. Ivan is reluctant to remember his past, planting seeds for his emotional upheaval when watching the documentary. Ivan chooses to avoid the pain of his history because he doesn’t like to think about how sad he was back then. Rather, he focuses on the present and how his life has improved.

The introductions of Bob, Ruby, and Kinyani reveal more about Ivan’s past. Ivan met Bob and Ruby when he was trapped in the arcade zoo. The hardship that these three shared has grown into a strong bond, illustrating The Importance of Relationships and Friendship. Like with humans, the animals of Applegate’s world forge relationships through understanding one another’s memories and emotions.

Like Ivan, Kinyani had a difficult past, which she and Ivan bond over earlier in the series. Though Ivan has very different relationships with Kinyani (his mate), Bob (his best friend), and Ruby (someone he has cared for like a daughter), he is still as important to each of them as they are to him. The unique role that each character plays in Ivan’s life shows the importance of varied relationships. In particular, Ivan’s parent-like relationship with Ruby foreshadows how he will be a good father to his own children.

The demon dolls and other preparations that the humans offer Ivan and Kinyani represent The Unfairness of Power Dynamics. Maya and the other caretakers are kind people who offer the gorillas the most authentic experience of life in the wild as possible. However, this doesn’t change the fact that Ivan and Kinyani’s lives are far different than they would be in their natural habitat. For the most part, the gorillas are left to their own devices to wander their world, small as it is, and socialize, as Ivan frequently does at Canine Corner with Bob and Ruby.

When Kinyani’s pregnancy is discovered, the humans take a more active role in the gorillas’ lives. Instead of leaving food and standing back, Maya and the vets deliver the demon dolls and perform more frequent checkups on Kinyani, which disrupts the life that the gorillas know. This foreshadows how the gorillas’ lives will change when the babies come and how humans can interfere with the natural progression of things. In the wild, Kinyani and Ivan would have other gorillas to help them. Their instincts would kick in, letting them understand what is required of them as parents. Away from others of their kind, the humans fill this role in human ways, such as by bringing the dolls and showing videos of wild gorillas caring for babies.

Kinyani’s reaction to the demon dolls shows how human methods don’t work. Rather than understanding that the dolls represent actual babies, Kinyani simply finds them creepy and tosses them aside. This suggests that animals don’t need human help to do what they are meant to do.

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