The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a 2006 novel by Kate DiCamillo.
It recounts the adventures of Edward, a china rabbit who is separated from his original owner and passes through a variety of hands.
Tropes included in Edward Tulane:
- Abusive Parent: Sarah Ruth and Bryce's father doesn't take any sort of care for them. He broke Sarah Ruth's only doll, and didn't even care enough to get her a new one because she's doing to die soon.
- Bittersweet Ending: Edward finds his way home after being bought by his original owner, now married and a mother, but he can't quite get over Sarah Ruth, who has died of tuberculosis. As the book ends, he imagines her looking down on him from above.
- Covers Always Lie: The cover shows Edward walking to his house. In the book, he is incapable of moving. The cover image was likely intentional, for stylistic effect.
- Death of a Child: One of Edward's encounters is with Sarah Ruth, a little girl suffering from tuberculosis, who eventually succumbs to her illness. This event is the one that hits Edward the most.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Played with. While it's left ambiguous whether or not Bryce's and Sarah Ruth's mom is deceased, she is still not with them anymore. She's only mentioned once, but that one mention implies she was a much better parent than their abusive, neglectful father, as she used to dance with Sarah Ruth, which she loved.
- Despair Event Horizon: Edward reaches this once Sarah Ruth dies, and he decides her death was so painful that he won't ever allow himself to love again.
- Died Happily Ever After: In the end, Edward imagines the girl who died on his way looking down on him.
- Driven to Suicide: Edward, after he's given up on love due to Sarah Ruth dying. He tells the doll in the doll shop that the only reason why he doesn't jump off the shelf and shatter himself again is because he can't move.
- Fractured Fairy Tale: A character tells a story where a princess is transformed into a warthog for being unloving, then ends up killed and cooked.
- Inner Monologue: Most of the book is Edward's thoughts.
- Living Toys: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is told from the viewpoint of a china rabbit, Edward Tulane. The book describes the different owners Edward encounters (and the personas they assign him) after being lost by his original owner.
- Missing Mom: Bryce's and Sarah Ruth's mother is not with them anymore.
- Never Be Hurt Again: Edward can't get over the girl with tuberculosis, who died during his journey. He decides not to make the mistake of loving again. Eventually, though, he learns The Power of Love.
- The Power of Love: What Edward learns.
- Silent Protagonist: Edward can't speak or even move, but he can think.
- Sliding Scale of Living Toys: Edward is toward the inanimate end; incapable of movement, but capable of observing and reflecting on what goes on around him.
- Tragic Abandoned Toy: The titular rabbit feels sad at having been dropped off a ship and wants to be with his owner again.
