In this novel for grades 5 and up, award-winning author Jane Kurtz weaves a story of Moralin, a girl who lives in a veiled and secretive society in a walled city--and what happens when she is kidnapped by the city's enemies.  As moons rise and fall, Moralin learns a new language and new ways of survival among people she once thought of as barbaric.  After she manages to escape and survive a harrowing trip back, she must still face the secrets behind the walls of home.  The societies in this novel are invented, Kurtz says, but draw on her childhood years in Ethiopia, a country of ancient civilizations existing side-by-side with nomadic and hunter-gatherer societies.