The One and Only Ivan
Katherine Applegate (2012)
“Based on the true story of a gorilla who spent 27 years in a shopping mall, told in his own quiet, devastating voice.”
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The One and Only Ivan
Katherine Applegate (2012) · 305pages · Contemporary
Summary
Ivan is a silverback gorilla who has lived for twenty-seven years inside a cage at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. His domain is a concrete enclosure with a tire swing and a small TV. He shares the mall with Stella, an aging elephant, and Bob, a stray dog who sleeps on Ivan's belly. When a baby elephant named Ruby arrives and Stella makes Ivan promise to find Ruby a better life, Ivan rediscovers his gift for art and uses his paintings to expose the truth of their captivity — ultimately winning freedom for himself and Ruby at a real zoo.
Why It Matters
Won the 2013 Newbery Medal. Based on a true story that helped catalyze the modern animal welfare movement. One of the most successful middle-grade novels to center animal consciousness without anthropomorphism. Adapted into a Disney+ film in 2020. Has become a classroom staple for teaching empath...
Themes & Motifs
Diction & Style
Register: Informal, deliberately spare — short declarative sentences with occasional bursts of poetic observation
Narrator: Ivan: first-person, present-tense, radically spare. His voice is the novel's primary artistic achievement — it makes ...
Figurative Language: Low
Historical Context
Contemporary America — roadside attractions, animal welfare movement, media activism: The novel captures a transitional moment in American attitudes toward captive animals. The roadside zoo and mall attraction represent an older model of animal display — entertainment-driven, profit...
Key Characters
Talking Points
- Why does Applegate choose to tell this story from Ivan's perspective rather than from a human character like Julia or George? What do we gain and lose by hearing a gorilla narrate his own captivity?
- Ivan calls his cage his 'domain.' Where does this word come from, and what does it reveal about how captivity shapes the language we use to describe our own conditions?
- How does Ivan's art change after Stella dies? What is the difference between painting for expression and painting for communication?
- Is Mack a villain? He feeds the animals, keeps the lights on, and believes he is giving them a good life. What makes his treatment of Ivan wrong if he does not intend harm?
- Stella tells Ruby stories about the wild. Why are these stories important even though Ruby barely experienced the wild herself? What role does storytelling play in preserving identity?
Notable Quotes
“I am Ivan. I am a gorilla.”
“Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot.”
“Stella is right. It's not so bad here, the Big Top Mall. I've been here most of my life and I'm used to the way things are.”
Why Read This
Because Ivan's voice will change how you think about who gets to tell their own story. The writing looks simple, but every short sentence is doing something precise — try writing like Ivan for a page and you'll see how hard simplicity is. And beca...