Another sequel to The One and Only Ivan. This one from the viewpoint of the little elephant, Ruby. Ruby, having escaped the horrors of the mall along with Ivan (who now lives next door), is now safe in the zoo and surrounding by other elephants who love and support her. She’s charming- so spunky and silly, loves to tell riddles and have fun. But reluctant about an upcoming event- a celebration the elephants in her adopted herd are having for her “Tuskday”- a coming-of-age thing. I really thought this book would be either about her struggles to adjust to yet another new environment, or about her desire to live free in the wild, return to Africa. Nope. Most of it is about what she remembers from being in Africa, before she was captured as a baby calf and sold to the mall display. She has a very good memory. And it’s why she dreads her Tuskday. She doesn’t like her tusks, because back in Africa, elephants in her family were hunted for their tusks, people killed them for it. Ruby relives the trauma and fear of those days as she tells her story, and by the end of the book, is able to come to terms with some things. That she can’t escape growing up, but she can face things together with her friends and family. Like the other books in this series, it was a touching story, and shares a lot of info about wild elephants and the threats they face, through Ruby’s eyes (with a bit too much knowledge of what humans did – but easy to overlook that) which is a great way for young readers to learn. I don’t know why, but again I found myself a little bored with it. Maybe because all the things Ruby shared about the plight of elephants, was already in my awareness, and the plot itself didn’t have much unique to it- or maybe I need to really start moving on to YA and adult books again.
Borrowed from the public library.
