No Condition Is Permanent

You can buy No Condition Is Permanent at amazon.com
(Buy this book)

Cristina Kessler has four other books for young people, all set in Peace Corps countries. They are listed in our Bibliography.

John Coyne talked with Cristina Kessler in our March, 2000 issue. Read that interview.

(Children’s Book, ages 9–12)
by Cristina Kessler (Honduras 1973–75, Kenya 1975–76, Seychelles 1976–78)
Philomel Books, $17.99
192 pages

Reviewed by Connie Winschel (Thailand 1995–97)

THIS IS A STORY OF a 14-year old girl, who through no fault of her own, suddenly finds herself living in Sierra Leone, Africa. Her mother decides to move there to work on her Ph.D., and, having been a Peace Corps Volunteer there many years before, just knows that it will be a wonderful experience for her daughter.
     14-year old girls are not always that eager to embrace their mother’s plans and goals and dreams. Friends, school, familiar faces and places are what’s important to 14-year old girls. The first few chapters of No Condition Is Permanent deal with this separation anxiety and the tearful reconciliation of Jodie to her suddenly strange future.
     What transpires throughout this small, quickly moving book, is a story of awareness, adaptation and acceptance of another culture. Friends are made, bonds are formed, and a mother-daughter relationship blooms. Women’s issues are discussed, cultural practices are described in easy-to-understand, not-too-graphic descriptions of the local passages to womanhood.
     This is a book that I would recommend to any pre-teen, to open their minds to an experience of service and adventure. It is well written, easily grasped, and has the ability to draw the reader in to the new life happening all around Jodie.

At the age of 60, Connie Winschel joined the Peace Corps and spent two years working in Thailand as an HIV/AIDS Volunteer.


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