Posthuman by Accident; Posthuman by Design: Power and Belonging in Posthuman Young Adult Fiction

ABSTRACT This article examines two young adult novels, Kevin Brooks’ iBoy and Brian Caswell’s A Cage of Butterflies, and posits that although these novels fall outside accepted posthuman themes, the characters’ actions and attributes are nonetheless posthuman. Furthermore, it argues that these novels use the speculative fiction form to address posthuman concerns within a contemporary realism framework. The article draws upon the literary criticism of N. Katherine Hayles, Roberta Trites, and others to explore how these novels offer young adult readers positive models as they search for ways to cope with life in an evolving posthuman world.