What does coming-of-age mean to you? If you answered overcoming those awkward teenage years with a group of fantastic friends, while discovering who you are in the world, then “A Birder's Guide to Everything” is the movie for you.

Fifteen-year-old David (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and his friends, the Young Birders Society, are attempting to find an extinct duck. At the same time, David is dealing with his father's (James Le Gros) upcoming wedding, only a year and a half after David's mother passed away. And he's trying to find a way to relate to his crush, Ellen (Katie Chang).

You can't help but relate to these characters. The film does a fantastic job portraying realistic teenage struggles. David and his friends Timmy (Alex Wolff) and Peter (Michael Chen) are awkward and incapable of talking to girls. Timmy hides his awkwardness behind coarse language, attempting to come off as a cool kid.

The grieving David is unable to shake the shadow of his mother's death and struggles to relate to even his best friends. Meanwhile, Ellen perfectly portrays the awkwardness of being a teenage girl. She uses the usual ploys to attempt to look cool in front of a group of guys.

The teenage actors effortlessly slide into these roles. Timmy brings laughter with his constant bravado, while Peter is the straight-A control freak we all know. David and Ellen do a great job conveying the awkwardness of a first crush.

This movie promotes an unusual hobby: birding. Yet there is something so peaceful about the woods that the teenage crew traipses through, and David impresses us with his extensive knowledge of birds. Sir Ben Kingsley plays Lawrence Konrad, a seasoned and famous birder, and offers the young adventurers some much-needed advice.

“A Birder's Guide to Everything” made me laugh, but it also made me pause and reflect on my own adolescence. It is a perfect mix of comedy and drama, and captures the essence of what growing up and becoming your own person is all about.