Reimagining Connections: Eco-Magical Realism and Human-Nonhuman Relationships in Anna-Marie McLemore’s Wild Beauty and Laura Ruby’s Bone Gap

This article examines the representation of human-nonhuman relationships in young adult (YA) magical realism, particularly through the lens of ecocriticism. Typically, YA narratives depict nature as either a force to be controlled or a passive victim in need of saving, reinforcing anthropocentric perspectives that position humanity as separate from and dominant over the environment. Focusing on Anna-Marie McLemore’s Wild Beauty (Wild Beauty, New York, Feiwel and Friends 2017). and Laura Ruby’s Bone Gap (Bone Gap. New York, Balzer + Bray 2015), I argue that a new ecological framework is necessary for understanding human-nonhuman relationships—one that emphasizes interconnectedness and mutual agency between humans and the natural world. Rather than portraying nature as a passive entity, these novels focus on environments that hold agency of their own. Drawing on Timothy Morton’s concept of the ecological “mesh” and theories of nonhuman agency, I demonstrate how Wild Beauty and Bone Gap can challenge traditional human-nature binaries. By encouraging young readers to rethink their relationship with nature, these texts can foster a new wave of young adult environmentalists who challenge previously held views of the natural environment and learn to embrace an evolving, agentic world.