Ms. Busch's debut novel "Birdy Cleary" is a delightful mix of nostalgia, humor, angst, and ultimately, hope. The story centers around the titular Birdy, the youngest teenage daughter in a devout, traditional Catholic family. She begins this story with a minimal amount of agency as she navigates a complicated family life and an even more complicated high school experience.

Birdy grapples with unrequited love, betrayal from friends, and other classic adolescent scenarios. There are also many moments of triumph, self-discovery, and true friendship. These are all framed within the weird and rapidly changing pop culture of the early 2000s.

Ms. Busch has a simile for every heartbreak and a metaphor for every victory. She writes with a sense of familiarity and immediacy that keeps the pages turning. She confronts themes of religion, sex, and hypocrisy in an even-handed, measured way; in a landscape that demands a polar position, she lands with nuance without seeming wishy-washy. This novel has a large cast of characters, but like Birdy, you learn to keep track of them and come to know them all as critical parts of the story. And like Birdy, they will surprise you and upend your initial impressions of them. Give it a read!

Sometimes you open a book that feels like it was written just for you. After I started reading Birdy Cleary, it was difficult to put down. This is one of those books when you realize you’re getting close to the end, you want to relish every page. I found it to be very relatable on a personal level, and I’m sure you’ll feel the same way if you meet any of the following criteria:
- You love coming of age stories involving finding your own voice.
- You struggled to stand up for yourself during your teen years.
- You were invited to “super fun social events” only to then realize they are prayer or chastity lectures.
- You’ve given more than you’ve taken in a friendship.
- You dealt with and were confused by “pick me” girls in adolescence, possibly before the term “pick me” even existed.
- You love reading about complicated family dynamics, likely because of your own.

Birdy Cleary offers a snapshot into the sometimes wonderful, sometimes terrible, and nearly always strange experience of coming of age in the Catholic church in the twenty-first century. The book strikes the perfect balance between giving you enough time to get to know Birdy and the zany inhabitants of Conrad, Maryland, and building up simmering tensions that drive the book to its conclusion. Anyone looking for new characters to love (or hate) who feel so believable that you might have met them at the supermarket (or your youth group retreat), trying to find a bit of hope amid messy situations, or searching for the next great work in the legacy of Lady Bird, Derry Girls, and SNL’s “Christmas Eve Spectacular” should prioritize getting their hands on a copy.