This story follows Ann Uekusa and three friends: Shika, Fuji and Diago, who she met at the age of 12 in her mother’s rural home town of Shimane. This coming of age story is focused is on Ann, who struggles to come to terms with the loss of her mother and her reunification with her estranged father. Friendship becomes Ann’s anchor and soon develops into romance, and then into a long-distance relationship as she moves back to Tokyo with her father. By Volume Three, love triangles begin to emerge as the group is separated by distance. 
The underlying theme throughout the series is the passage of time, symbolized by an hourglass. This began with Ann’s one happy childhood memory: a visit to the sand museum with her mother, where they saw a huge hourglass filled with sand that lasts a year. What struck Ann was how small the physical representation of a year looked. A souvenir hourglass she bought that day was broken the day her mother died, thus stopping time for her mother. A replacement hourglass bought by Ann’s boyfriend, Diago, is used symbolize Ann’s life moving forward. The changing seasons also feature in this series and help mark the passing years. A sweet and heart-breaking story, I look forward to reading the remaining volumes. I highly recommend checking it out.
The Sand Chronicles is by Hinako Ashihara and is published by Viz Media under the ShojoBeat label. It is rated for older teens and there are ten volumes in the series.