Often fiction allows authors to tell truths that otherwise would be too painful. Sia Figiel is uninhibited in The Girl in the Moon Circle, an observation of life in Samoa for perceptive and inquisitive 10-year old Samoana. Samoana describes the detail of her life so well that we are both outraged and charmed by it. She talks about school, church, friends, family violence, having refrigerators and television for the first time, crushes on boys, and legends.