The year of living awkwardly

Adolescence is tough—hormones, high-school drama and overbearing parents—but the 18th year could be the worst. Sure, you’re free of school and parental interferences, but emotionally (and financially), you’re still in the thick of trying to figure things out. In Clumsy Year, New York writer Kara Comegys chronicles her life as an 18-year-old, cut-and-paste style. The small booklet (available on Etsy for $2 plus 65 cents for shipping) is third in an ongoing series with journal entries that document a summer fraught with awkwardness, fights and unsureness—but also one of dancing, hitchhiking and sleeping out under the stars. There are also vegan recipes and myriad lists (“Reasons why yesterday sucked: Not enough sleep. L-cysteine, Dave’s panic attack, too hot.”). It was, Comegys eventually concludes, “the best year of my life (so far).” www.etsy.com/listing/84950260/clumsy-year-zine.