Creating Adulthood

For generations of young adults struggling to find stability in a chaotic world, comes an honest and ultimately hopeful collection of essays exploring everything that can go wrong in the transition to “real” adulthood in this particular era, that dares to ask how it could be better, and how it could be great.

Many in the Millennial and Gen Z generations will never experience the same career successes, economic stability, or community support that accompanied their predecessors. They spend more time apart and alone than any age groups before them, and a lot of the hallmarks of adulthood they were raised to expect—stable employment with opportunities for long-term growth; affordable housing if not home ownership; kids (if they want them); a social contract defined by trust instead of stealth recordings or cancel culture; a reliable, upward trajectory that isn’t doomed to be upended by AI; an otherwise “typical” life path—seem out of reach.

In this collection of meditative and often humorous essays, Kate Carraway validates the uncertainties of today’s youth, tackling the seen and unseen expectations that dictate how young adults are expected to move through the world, while daring to ask questions like: “Is this the life I really want to live or the one that I’m supposed to want?” “Does this career path bring me joy or am I cosplaying as the person I think I should be?” and most importantly, “How can I embrace the messiness of my own being amidst a world that cares little about, (and even profits off of) my fears that I’ll never be enough?”

Written with raw honesty, humor, and the hopefulness of a cool older sister who’s been there and seen it all, Creating Adulthood is a fearless attempt to navigate the chaos of our modern world, one that dares to ask whether adulthood is not a phase one reaches, but rather a state of being defined by how we show up for ourselves and one another.