47 pages • 1 hour read
Katherine ApplegateThe One and Only Ruby
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Middle Grade | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Series Context: The One and Only Series
The One and Only Ruby is the third iteration in Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only series, which also comprises The One and Only Ivan and The One and Only Bob. All three animals, Ivan, Ruby, and Bob, feature across the three novels, which tells the story of the gorilla Ivan and the elephant Ruby, who are relocated from inhumane cages in a mall to a larger and more humane animal sanctuary. Bob, a stray dog who lived with Ivan in his cage, is adopted by the human family who rescues and relocates the other animals.
Continuity is established across the series through the relationship of Ivan, Bob, and Ruby, which continues after the animals are relocated from the mall to the sanctuary, with Bob frequently visiting Canine Corner, a corner where Ruby and Ivan’s zoo enclosures meet. Each of the three novels focuses on one animal’s story; as may be intuited, The One and Only Ivan features Ivan as a protagonist, with the other animals as supporting characters. Likewise, The One and Only Bob focuses on Bob, and The One and Only Ruby focuses on Ruby. Each book is told from the first-person point of view of the main character. The Importance of Friendship and Family and Animal Cruelty and Exploitation are themes that feature heavily in each novel.
Social Context: The Illegal Ivory Trade
Ivory is a hard, white material derived from mammalian teeth and tusks. Elephant tusks are the most common source of ivory. Ivory can be sculpted into figurines, piano keys, frames, or displayed in its original form for decorative purposes. The use of ivory dates back to ancient times; an ivory figurine of a bullfighter was recovered from the palace of Knossos, in Crete, which has been dated to 1500 BC (“The Exhibit.” Heraklion Archaeological Museum, 2023).
An international ban on the ivory trade was introduced in 1975 for Asian elephants, and in 1989 for African elephants, as a direct result of plummeting elephant populations caused by unsustainable levels of elephant poaching in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite this ban, elephant poaching for ivory continues to be a major problem. Around 111,000 elephants were killed between 2006 and 2015, which represents a fifth of the total African elephant population; the majority of these elephants were killed for ivory. (Drury, Rebecca. “A Beginner’s Guide to Ivory Trade.” Flora and Fauna, 2023).
Asian elephants are classified as endangered, African Forest Elephants are classified as critically endangered, and African Savanna Elephants (the elephants in The One and Only Ruby) are classified as endangered. All of these population groups are in marked decline (Ritchie, Hannah. “The State of the World’s Elephant Populations.” Our World in Data, Dec. 2022).
The largest domestic market for ivory is in China, where ivory is prized as “white gold.” It is considered a sign of wealth and status, and is a favored medium for sculpture.
The flourishing nature of the ivory trade in spite of the international ban has led some to suggest that a legal ivory trade should exist. Proponents say a legal ivory trade would only use ivory harvested from already deceased elephants, and the proceeds could be invested to support remaining elephant populations. However, those who oppose this plan believe that the aim should be to eliminate the market for ivory completely to protect elephants (Drury, Rebecca. “A Beginner’s Guide to Ivory Trade.” Flora and Fauna, 2023).
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By Katherine Applegate
