Dylan, a Clique novel by Lisi Harrison YFIC HAR 2008 (HAWAII)
Dylan accompanies her mother on a business trip to Hawaii with the best of intentions on improving her relationship with her mother, but develops a crush on a rich, attractive boy who is after a local “bad girl” who is a tennis star.

Real World by Natsuo Kirino FIC KIR 2008 (JAPAN)
Four teenage girls living in a crowded residential suburb of Tokyo spend a hot, smoggy summer in “cram school” to prepare themselves to enter good colleges. They encounter some very adult dangers, including a brutal murder in their neighborhood. A dark psychological novel which would be appropriate for mature teen readers (adult themes), and which provides a look at the pressures of teenage life in Japan today.

Sword: A Novel by Da Chen YFIC CHE 2008 (CHINA)
Fifteen-year-old Miu Miu , who has been secretly trained in martial arts, steps forward to kill the emperor who murdered her father. She has many near-misses, including once when she nearly killed her betrothed in a Kung Fu match. There are fantastical elements and a look at traditional Chinese folkways.

Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell JFIC DOW 2008 (VIETNAM)
A 12-year-old girl who is a member of an Army family in Texas learns about the meaning of having a family member missing in combat overseas during the Vietnam War. The general tone reflects the continuing ambivalence of Americans’ attitudes toward that war, and toward American involvement in overseas conflicts in general.

The Sky Village by Monk Ashland YSF ASH 2008 (CHINA)
Two children on opposite sides of the world, in Las Vegas, Nevada and in China, connect through a mysterious journal which reveals their linked destiny in a futuristic world where wild animals, humans and mechanical beings are struggling for control. (Kaimira, Book 1)

Swan, volume 13. by Kyoko Ariyoshi YFIC ARI (JAPAN)
This graphic novel in the manga style (read in the right-to-left format) is the latest volume of a series which began in 2005 about a teenage girl who strives to be a great ballerina. This series is one of the classics in the shouyo manga style.