Lady Bird by Greta Gerwig (4/5)

Christine McPherson, known as “Lady Bird,” is a seventeen-year-old, high school senior who explores her love and hatred for the city of Sacramento and the people within it. Any reader can relate to the awkward and exciting high school experiences and teenage-parent conflict. The author, Greta Gerwig, draws a parallel between Lady Bird and her mother, who are living through similar circumstances, but desire entirely different outcomes in life. Teenage readers can easily relate to Lady Bird who feels misunderstood and unseen. However, Lady Bird is a typical teen vs. parent friction story that does not seem to reach a resolution. This book challenges the religious beliefs of Christianity in real-world situations, like parties and romantic relationships. Greta Gerwig composes an accurate and relatable high school experience, unlike Cameron Crowe, the author of Almost Famous, which is a high schooler’s dream-come-true, rock n' roll road trip, with no parental oversight. I learned through Lady Bird that focusing on one’s future doesn’t need to come at the expense of one’s present life and it takes effort to resolve conflict, which Lady Bird does not achieve. Greta Gerwig paints a captivating picture of a young girl branching out from her sheltered life and struggling to gain independence from her overbearing and religious mother.