Young fiction shouldn’t be limited to just books. Whilst my experience with manga isn’t too broad, one of my favourite series in High School was Peach Girl by Miwa Ueda. 

With long blonde hair, blue eyes and tanned skin, Momo is constantly being made fun of because she looks different. She can’t help the way she looks, she’s on the swim team at school and the long hours have made her skin dark and hair lighter than everyone else. 

It’s a typical teenage story. A beautiful girl that is the envy of everyone else. She’s in love with the popular guy that doesn’t notice her, has a best friend that ruins her life and an annoying boy that teases her constantly.

That’s basically the premise of the series. It’s simple and focuses mainly on teenage love. This series spoke to me when I was sixteen and I still to this day love the drawings. Manga should be read more by everyone. I believe halfway through the Peach Girl series, the author even changed the format to read backwards to the front of the book, which is traditional manga. I enjoyed reading something so different and seeing the emotions of the characters through the drawings.

The series is very girly, but if you’re looking for a break from traditional books, give Peach Girl a try. A quick read finished on a train journey, this is perfect is your wanting to see a love triangle rather than just read about it.  

There’s 18 manga’s in the series, I recommend buying the first few and then getting some from the library to make sure you want to invest in the series. (When I have my own library be sure this series will have it’s own shelf.)