The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Our media specialist does a good job of featuring new additions to the library, and when she first brought The One and Only Ivan into the library, it sat on display for a couple of months. Nobody, as far as I know, checked it out. This is the problem with getting people/kids interested in books. A good display is a fine thing, but it takes more. You almost have to run an ad campaign and really sell it. That's why book talks work.

So, anyway it languished there. Even I didn't do more than pick it up a flip through it a couple of times. Honestly, even though the library has always served middle and high school ages, most of the foot traffic is high schools because of its location and The One and Only Ivan looks like a book aimed at a younger set. The print is large, there's plenty of white space on the page, and there are plenty of illustrations.

It really is aimed at an audience starting at about the 4th grade. However, it's a well written and impactful story. I'm not an overly sentimental person, but it even got me tearing up at the end. I would recommend it to just about anyone regardless of age.

It's the story of Ivan, a gorilla born in the wild but raised in captivity who lives in a sad little display with elephants and other exotics. He also has little mutt of a dog, Bob, as a friend. Things change for Ivan when a new baby elephant named Ruby arrives.

As it turns out, Ivan in the book is based off of Ivan in the Atlanta Zoo who spent about 30 years isolated in a display out on the West Coast. Shifting understandings of primate needs caused a public outcry and Ivan was rescued. He's now on permanent loan to Zoo Atlanta where he is part of a primate group with females and juveniles, a much better situation.

The book is only loosely based on the real story, but it's still a story worth reading.