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Budi tries to work hard and fast to avoid the rotan the foreman swings. In his family is a strain of haemophilia that makes it hard to stop the blood flowing if he gets hurt. Budi's going to play for the greatest team on earth, instead of sweating over each stitch he sews, each football boot he makes. Unfortunately the reality of Budi’s life is very different. He lives in Jakarta in a cramped dwelling with his extended family. He works in a sweat shop producing football boots for a company of ‘white men’. His uncle is in prison and soon his father finds himself on the wrong side of the law. The last thing Budi needs is to inadvertently become involved with The Dragon – the most feared man in Jakarta. This is a book I will remember for a long time. It might be a children's book but it pulls no punches in its description of the way too many children still have to live in our world today. It makes you laugh and cry, devastates you and gives you hope, and leaves you wanting to change the world. I can't believe I haven't found this book until now!
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At the end of the book, there is a scene which is entirely embroiled in crime and it ends in Budi surviving with his father (although his uncle sadly dies) and he ends up with millions of pounds in cash. Before his uncle's death, he said to his nephew that he could use it for his life as he knew that Budi wanted to be a professional footballer and this was the lifeline that his uncle had provided for HIM for Budi to fulfil his ambition with his poor chances. There is a story about Budi's family - his uncle, grandma and father that shows the underbelly of crime that takes root in any society - but for me the scenes I remember will be those in the factory as Budi sweats over his work, with a supervisor watching his every stitch, the boy knowing he could never afford to buy and wear a pair of the very things he is making for westerners. Another problem I had was actually a specific plot point. I'll try not to give anything away but, in effect: there is something that happens towards the end of the book which COULD potentially have changed the course of a character's life and the way things turned out really annoyed me! (It will be at the bottom hidden behind a spoiler warning so you can read it if you want to!)
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Moreover, it was emotional, compelling and brilliantly portrayed the life of someone who has a life less fortunate than most of us, but without othering him, and while offering the reader an easy way to relate to him (particularly for younger readers- it is a fantastic book that will teach them about another culture while offering an easy way into the narrative).
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Despite the weighty subject matter the story is not entirely downbeat. As a reader, you are carried through the book by a real compassion for Budi and also the author’s humour, which acts as light-hearted relief in the story and doesn’t distract from the matter in hand. The story also has many intriguing developments which make you want to keep reading.
Also Budi is a budding (excuse the pun) footballer and plays football whenever he can, commentating on his play in his head. “One day I’m going to be a world-famous footballer like Kieran Wakefield” – Wakefield, the Real Madrid player who cost the highest ever transfer fee, being his hero. Two things that I really enjoyed about this book is that it is very beautifully written and that it has a good understanding of how poor people can't just be bad at all things just because they don't have enough money. So my brother just started working at the same Waterstones where Mitch Johnson works and, because he loves football nearly as much as Budi, was immediately interested in buying and reading this. He handed it to me to read first though because I'm a faster reader than him and love football just as much, haha. This middle-grade story is about a boy in Indonesian working in a sweatshop factory producing sports trainers. He is football-mad and follows the Spanish League. Konfliknya mulai terasa pada suatu sore ketika Budi berlatih bola— itu hanya karena dia tidak suka menyebutnya bermain, lebih bangga menyebutnya berlatih— di sepetak tanah kosong bersama teman-temannya. Namun kesialan terjadi, belum dapat merasakan gurihnya rendang buatan ibunya, Budi malah harus berurusan dengan Naga karena satu tendangannya yang menyalang ke rumah 'Preman' Jakarta itu, mantan napi Nusa Kambangan yang menyeretnya pada komplotan mereka untuk melakukan aksi yang jelas berlawanan dengan kerjaannya— ya dia harus melakukan itu demi menyelamatkan dirinya 'hidup-hidup' dari si Naga sialan itu.
Kick by Mitch Johnson (9781474928151/Paperback) - LoveReading4Kids Kick by Mitch Johnson (9781474928151/Paperback) -
The read focuses on showcasing the life of Budi who works in a football show factory and dreams of playing football professionally professionally. However, Budi lives within poverty, and him and his family and friends face hardships throughout which highlight the differing lives of Budi and the football players he adores. There are many elements in this book, therefore, that show that message and relate to Budi's story in the meantime. However, towards the end of the book, it really does become so much more than that. I won't be spoiling anything but it does get very intense and very deeply emotional (some very nasty stuff happens!) and then it becomes more a story of morals and making the right decisions in life as oppose to the easy decisions. Those themes, again, I thought were handled really well and just in general, it was a really strong novel.
Menariknya, Mitch Johnson sepertinya tahu banyak dengan seluk beluk Jakarta. Aku tidak tahu apakah beliau ini pernah ke ibukota Negara. Atau memang pernah menetap hitungan tahun. Walaupun tidak sepenuhnya pas menggambarkan kehidupan ibukota. Tapi untuk debut perdana yang berhasil kurampungkan, novel ini menarik. I understand why the publishers have done it because they want the book to appeal to the audience which the book is written for. The writing style in this is, most of the time, quite plain: it is very compatible with children between the ages of 12-15 maybe and there is something in the writing style which reminded me a lot of how YA books are written, in general. That cover would very easily appeal to teenagers, especially boys! Then the exciting adventure story gets going, and you'll be rooting for Budi and his friend, Rochy, to pull through. Akan selalu ada sesuatu— atau seseorang— yang mencegahmu menyadari potensimu. Selalu ada penjaga lapangan yang memelihara pagar. Selalu ada kiper yang menjaga gawang. Kau cuma harus melihat melampaui dirinya.❞ —Hlm. 159 Awalnya aku mengira garapan Mitch Johnson ini akan lebih kurang dengan garapan penulis luar lainnya. Hanya menyisipkan sedikit isu keluguan Budi yang asli Indonesia. Tapi ternyata salah besar, aku mengakui kelihaian penulis memunculkan konflik-konflik baru dan menyelesaikannya satu persatu. Walaupun di puluhan halaman pembuka aku merasa bosan dan mulai memupuskan ekspaktasi besarku pada novel ini, tapi akhirnya terjawab dengan munculnya bagian kisah baru dari kehidupan Budi ini.