There are sparks of Kate DiCamillo's signature wit in The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Candlewick, Feb.), but it is compassion that reigns in this stirring story of a china rabbit who is self-obsessed but not self-aware. Edward has never loved another soul, and it hasn't occurred to him to try. As one might expect, his heart undergoes a remarkable transformation in the course of this story, and the events that bring about his awakening should stir the heart of any reader. There is nothing cloying in the telling of this tale, nothing sweeping or epic or self-satisfied on these pages. Kate DiCamillo gives us a fragile and wonderfully human antihero and a meaningful, memorable story with all the markings of a future classic.