Customer Reviews

No Condition Is Permanent

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Only Cristina can capture the full flavor of Africa, make us laugh, while at the same time bringing major issues to the our consciousness. Anyone who has lived in the west can relate to Jodie's reluctance to acompany her mother to Sierra Leone, a country that she thinks to be backward, compared to the US. Yet many a traveller will nod at the lessons she learns once she gets there, and the new eyes with which she sees this vast and beautiful land. More than a book about the developing friendship between two young girls with strong personalities, this important book is about the meeting of two proud cultures, and the need for those cultures to respect each other. Cristina handles cultural issues with sensitivity and humor. Youth from all over the world will find themselves in the characters portrayed here, as they travel from America to Africa and back again. By the time I finished reading the book, I was speaking Krio along with Jodie, and I wanted to visit Sierra Leone. I can only hope that there will be a sequel to look forward to. Thank you, Cristina

Cristina Kessler's NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT is in the same spirit of her first book, ONE NIGHT; a tale well told. Her book reflects an increasingly shrinking world where western values clash with older, more rooted rituals, where one viewpoint is inherently different from another. Kessler tackles the difficult subject of female circumcision with clarity and understanding of only someone who has lived in West Africa. The frustrations that accompany this situation are transcended by a heartfelt friendship. NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT is a well-developed story that kept this reader's interest from the first page to the last.

Beth Hollis, School Librarian

Cristina, I thank you for transporting me back to Sierra Leone, with all its smells, sights and sensations, where I was a Peace Corps volunteer. This book is a tribute to the beauty and challenges of cross-cultural relations. Jodie and Khadi struggled and strived as friendship found its pattern for growth across the cultural divide. The courage, strength and compassion they show in forging this path is so real and necessary. I applaud Cristina's book, its characters, the context and the issues dared raised regarding female circumcision. No Condition is Permanent incites laugher, anticipation, excitement and moments of silence and subtle fears. I was swept away by the tale, Jodi and Khadi's tale. The young women, their experiences and their relationship are genuine to cross-cultural encounters. I look forward to sharing this book with my nieces who have sought to know more about living in far away places and cultures as the book provides a sensitive and insightful view of the true challenges encountered and of those which exceed issues of mere physical comfort. Offering young women this book to read is offering them a glimpse into the world beyond and a stimulant to their desire to explore its fascinations. I, too, hope that there are more adventures of Jodi and Khadi to come.

When I first started to read this book I was really taken in by the sight and sounds of the expericence that the characters had traveling. But as the book progressed I lacked the ability to connect with Jodie. As a parent, I also felt that the amount of freedom that Jodie had in a foreign country was unrealistic. Working side by side with people was realistic, but being gone for hours at a time spying on the group of girls was not. I felt that the subject matter was truely for ages highschool and older.

What a great book! I couldn't put it down. The author's descriptions of the African culture, it's people, and the environment in which they live, allowed you to imagine that you were actually there. She brilliantly brought awareness to a very controversial and uncomfortable subject, female circumcision through the eyes of a 14 year old girl. As the mother of an adolescent daughter, as well as remembering that time in my own life, I was able to relate to all the emotions, fears, curiosity, and excitement that this age brings. Kesslers developement of the friendship between the two main characters, Jodie and Khadi,girls with extremely diverse backgrounds, was very real. I wanted more...This book is a must read for all young women and their mothers! I hope she has a sequel in the works.

I enjoyed this book. it had interesting backround and I like the idea of writing much of the dialect in the language of Krio

No condition is permanent, things can never stay the same, it just takes time to change; especially tring to change something that has been there for generations. For two girls from different cultures to accept one culture of eachother needs time, even things that are harsh but always believe in that everything can be chaged, all it needs is time to chage things.