Ruby/Duni/Nya

Ruby is a young African elephant and the narrator of the novel. She is born to a herd of 16 in the savanna, and her mother names her Nya. While at the elephant orphanage, she is called Duni by the elephant keepers. She is not named Ruby until she comes to the US, but this is the name that she currently calls herself and that she wants her family and friends to call her.

Ruby has the magnificent memory of an elephant, so she remembers the first day of her life, and how happy she was to be an elephant in a herd with a big family and a loving mother. She even loved the little white bird, Gichinga, who perched on her back and ate bugs. However, a drought causes her and her mother to weaken, which leads to them being separated from their herd. Poachers...