The apocalyptic story that can't be told—that would not sell books or movies—is that humans are doomed and that, because of their greed and folly, will join the thousands of species that have already gone extinct. Thus, this collection, edited by Olson, searches for sources of hope in contemporary film. Can art point the way, or is the apocalyptic film merely a way of acknowledging collective fear while clinging to various fantasies of transcendence? Varieties of hope are the dominant theme of this volume, and that hope is literally embodied by children surviving disasters of nuclear war, global pandemics, environmental meltdown, etc. These nine rich essays explore the iconography of children: as religious icons, or under the protection of an anthropomorphic “Mother Nature,” or symbols of past cultural apocalypses due to colonialism and its ongoing effects, or even as an image of survival through evolution into a “post-human” existence. Especially good is Olson's closing essay in this collection, which posits children as symbols of the death of innocence. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

Choice Reviews

Debbie Olson has contributed so much to the study of representations of childhood in the cultural imagination as both a writer and editor, so much, in fact, that this book is her second edited collection on the post-apocalyptic child in fictional narratives. However, this study feels especially urgent: the daily impact of climate change as well as the recent Covid-19 pandemic have revealed that humankind is more vulnerable than we might want to believe, and no one feels the pressure of these threats more than the young. The essays in this collection are so immediately contemporary that they directly reflect these recent blows to our confidence in our survival. Other narratives examined are older but still so pertinent, for it is precisely in the changing portrayals of the apocalypse that we can chart the roles our world imagines role children will play in maintaining the humanity of our species, no matter how we find ourselves having to live in the world.

Karen Renner, Northern Arizona University

What makes the collection invaluable for film and media researchers of child representation is its extensive theoretical and cultural reach – it is grounded in key contemporary issues such as posthumanism, antihumanism, ecofeminism and AI that intersect with, or are contextualized by, contentious racial and social histories. … this is a highly recommended text for film and media scholars concerned with fictional child representation and contemporary perspectives in science fiction and eco-criticism.

Frances Pheasant-Kelly, University of Wolverhampton

This follow-up to The Child in Post-Apocalyptic Cinema (2015) examines film and television narratives from The Hunger Games to Station Eleven through diverse critical and theoretical perspectives. . .that explore the dynamism of youth confronting a dystopian future.

Caryn Murphy, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh