one and only ruby

Aunt Akello finds Ruby and tells her a riddle to lighten the mood. Then she uses her tusks to help Ruby get out of the fence unharmed. Aunt Akello tells Ruby that she, too, grew up in Africa. Ruby confesses that she hates her tusks, and Aunt Akello says she understands. She explains that humans want elephant tusks to make objects out of, but insists that tusks are useful and worthy of celebration.

They join the rest of the herd and Ruby completes her Tuskday ceremony, which even includes a moment of respect for Stella. Ruby learns that she must ask herself two questions every night: What gifts did she give the world, and what gifts did the world give her? She ends the novel by claiming that the world has given her too many gifts to count. Even though she is the littlest elephant, she says, she is also the luckiest.