Ruby was born in an unspecified part of Africa, later ending up on display in the mall, where she met Ivan, Bob, and Julia. Luckily, she can confide in her Uncle Ivan, who is next door in Gorilla World, and Uncle Bob, the dog who lives nearby with human friend Julia. She’s apprehensive about her Tuskday, a rite of passage for young elephants when she’ll give a speech in front of the rest of the herd. In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary. Gino describes their intention in an author’s note: “this book is consciously written for white people as a catalyst to talk about modern racism and police violence in the United States” and to teach them “about their privilege and how to support marginalized people in their lives.”Ī necessary and rewarding addition to any middle-grade collection.

There are occasional hiccups in the flow and awkward moments, but readers learn a lot along with Jilly and her mistakes in this engrossing and satisfying read. Gino tackles all this and much more with grace, clarity, and thoughtfulness. She wants her parents to embrace having a deaf child but doesn’t realize that Deaf culture and identity are more than just learning a few signs. She learns to confront microaggressions at family holidays. She’s excited to talk to Profound about her sister, but he doesn’t like being reduced to only one of his identities. Jilly wants to do the right thing, but that’s harder than she realizes. Her white parents gloss over news reports of unarmed black youth killed by police, but her aunt Alicia, a black woman married to Jilly’s mom’s sister, encourages Jilly to not ignore racism. She’s crushing on Profound, a Deaf black boy she meets in a chat room dedicated to her favorite fantasy series.

Twelve-year-old Jilly has a lot going on. Gino’s second middle-grade novel shows a well-meaning white girl stumbling through difficult issues with compassion.

George by alex gino sparknotes