Ivan promises he will take care of Ruby, even though he does not know how he will manage to do it. Just before Stella succumbs to her illness and passes away, she asks Ivan to take care of Ruby and find her a better place. Stella's old injury causes her to get sick. When Ruby, a baby elephant, is brought to the Big Top Mall to live with Stella and learn new tricks, things begin to change. Stella believes that good zoos are how humans make amends.

However, Stella wanted to live in a zoo, because they have much wider spaces for their domains. Unlike Ivan, Stella has a long memory and can remember living in other places, like the circus where she was taught many of her tricks. Stella is an older elephant who has a chronic injury in one leg and regularly performs in the daily shows. Along with Ivan, Stella, an elephant, and Bob, a stray dog, live at the mall. He watches television, eats bananas, and makes artwork that is sold by the owner. He lives in his domain, and is generally content with his life.

Ivan, the Silverback Gorilla, has lived in captivity at the Big Top Mall for 9,855 days by his own tally. The story is placed at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall by the Video Arcade. It was followed in 2020 by The One and Only Bob, presented from the point of view of Ivan's best friend, the dog Bob. It has won several other awards and is currently nominated to several reading lists. In 2013 it was named the winner of the Newbery Medal. It is about a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lived in a cage at a mall, and is written from Ivan's point of view. The One and Only Ivan is a 2012 novel written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by Patricia Castelao.

Ivan by Katherine Applegate