Shadows on the Moon is a twist on the classic Cinderella story. In the beginning, Suzume starts out with a best friend, Aimi, and a happy family. After her father is murdered, she moves in with her mother and melancholy step-father, Lord Terayama. She doesn't trust him. Once Suzume discovers Lord Terayama's role in her father's death, she becomes afraid, and eventually runs away. Her skill of shadow-weaving proves to be a big help in her journey from upper class to the lowest of beggars. Set in a feudal Japan-like world, this is one original story.
In Unleashed, a girl named Katelyn McBride moves from colorful California to dull, rural Arkansas to live with her grandfather after her mother dies. Wolf Springs, in the Ozark Mountains, has hidden surprises. Katelyn is warned of walking alone in the forest but never believes there to be true danger until she is attacked by a wolf one unplanned evening. One of her only friends, Trick, is intensely disliked by most, if not all, of the locals. Cordelia, her only other friend, seems to have secrets of her own.
In Daughter of Xanadu, by Dori Jones Yang, 16-year-old Emmajin is the royal granddaughter of Khubilai Khan. Instead of marriage, her interests lie in joining the army. When her grandfather, the Great Khan, asks Emmajin to befriend the foreign traveler Marco Polo and to learn his secrets, she does. However, Emmajin starts to actually enjoy the company of this clueless man, instead of dreading it and dismissing his odd western customs. Emmajin begins to see some aspects of her country and culture through his eyes, such as the focus on conquering.
Briony Larkin lives in rural Swampsea with her troubled sister, Rose, and her father. For years, shes kept the secret that shes a witch from everyone she knows, afraid of being sentenced to death. She also believes that shes responsible for her sister Roses mental state. When Mr. Clayborne and his son Eldric arrive, she strikes up a friendship with the son. However, she doesnt reveal either of her two secrets to him. When Rose develops a swamp cough, Briony turns to the Boggy Mun, for help. Unfortunately, she gets into quite a bit of trouble.
In Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, Amy decides to freeze herself cryogenically in order to remain with her parents as they travel to another planet 300 years away from Earth. However, 250 years into the journey, she becomes unplugged, and nearly dies. Onboard the strange ship named Godspeed, Eldest rules every single person. Elder, the only teenage boy aboard the ship, is in line to becoming Eldest. Upon discovering that she cannot be refrozen, Amy has trouble adjusting to life on the massive ship.
