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Meichi Ng’s smart, funny, honest book of illustrated personal essays captures all the feels of growing up and finding one’s place in adulthood. Full of absurdity, awareness, and universal truths in all their most comic, most awkward, most endearing forms, this sweet little blue blob of non-gendered protagonist is a great storyteller, an emotional touchstone, and my new best friend. Perfect for fans of Allie Brosh and Jomny Sun or anyone in need of a humorous dose of youthful tenderness.
— Melinda
“In Barely Functional Adult, Meichi Ng seamlessly combines cartoon illustrations with prose to create graphic essays that are hilariously relatable. From moving to a new city to realizing one is enjoying things they previously mocked as old, the character of Barely Functional Adult experiences the changes and terrors of growing up. Ng crafts stories that make the reader feel seen and understood, from imposter syndrome to the nervous stress of starting therapy to an older sister who just doesn’t understand why one wouldn’t pack for a major move until the day before. I laughed until I cried and then I laughed some more.”
— Faith Parke-Dodge, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC
“Funny, introspective, and touching. . . . The lessons Meichi gently shares with us through delightful stories are full of wisdom for people at any life stage who need a reminder they’re not alone.” —Mari Andrew, author of Am I There Yet?
From the creator of Barely Functional Adult, a painfully relatable webcomic with over 130k followers on Instagram, comes a never-before-seen collection of incriminating short stories about exes, murder, friendship, therapy, anxiety, Hufflepuff, sucking at things, freaking out about things, calming down momentarily, melodrama, wrinkles, pettiness, and other wonderful delights.
Wielding her trademark balance of artful humor, levity, and heartbreaking introspection, Meichi Ng’s indisputably relatable collection of short stories holds a mirror to our past, present, and future selves. Featuring a swaddled Barely Functional Adult as its protagonist who says all the things we think but dare not say, this book is equal parts humorous and heartbreaking as it spans a spectrum of topics from imposter syndrome, therapy, friendships, first loves, letting go of exes, to just trying to find your purpose in the world. Prepare to excitedly shove this book in your friend’s face with little decorum as you shout, “THIS IS SO US!”
In this beautiful, four-color collection compiled completely of never-before-seen content, Meichi perfectly captures the best and worst of us in every short story, allowing us to weep with pleasure at our own fallibility. Hilarious, relatable, and heart-wrenchingly honest, Barely Functional Adult will have you laughing and crying in the same breath, while taking solace in the fact that we’re anything but alone in this world.
Meichi Ng is the creator of Barely Functional Adult, a comic she started back in 2015. She tells nonsense stories from a teeny tiny apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia.