Kick

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Budi is like any young boy - he plays football with his friends whenever he can, watches matches, dreams about going to the matches of his favourite teams. But Budi is also a boy who makes football boots. He works in a Jakartan sweatshop, working long hours and for little pay. The harsh divide between rich and poor is examined sensitively in this moving book about one child’s struggles that are, unfortunately, a fact of life for many. It’s also an intelligent look at the shadow side of capitalism that holds the role of professional footballer (with its accompanying wealth) up as an aspiration for children around the world, despite their circumstances. Budi may not ever achieve what so few manage, but is that the only dream available to him? Perfect reading for anyone that enjoyed The Bone Sparrow. The real cover will be different to my proof cover (the proof is just yellow!) but it is the real cover I have a problem with. It's not a bad cover but it makes it look like a children's book. Apart from the quote, there are barely any hints there to do with the themes it discusses in terms of Indonesian poverty and the ridiculous justice system there (this book goes into really great detail on those points!), nor does the cover indicate the genuinely deep emotional story that this book has.

Kick | Usborne | Be Curious Kick | Usborne | Be Curious

Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments If you like soccer, then this is is the book for you. Budi lives in a poor part of Jakarta and dreams of being a star soccer player like his idol Kieran Wakefield. He and his friends work in a shoe factory where they are beaten if they fail to fill their daily quota. He accepts this, as his parents need money to eat and live. In fact, Budi knows that on Fridays he won't get anything to eat for dinner, until his father is paid next. Budi lives with his parents and his grandmother, who tells him stories of past events in her life and his. He makes sense of his life from these stories and creates his own reality from them. All is going well for him until he angers the Dragon, the most dangerous man in the area. Then, Budi is forced to make some difficult decisions that change him irrevocably. For example, at one point in the book, we see Budi's favourite football player in quite a difficult situation in terms of scoring a penalty in unfortunate circumstances. There is a lot of focus on the situation seeming near to impossible at first sight and the people in the audience thinking he won't manage it, yet we still see the football player just concentrating so intently despite all the difficulties and he does eventually score the penalty. So the lesson to always spur on with your dreams translates really well into football in that example. I have a feeling this will sound pretentious but I do think this could have been pulled off as an adult novel, as oppose to a teenage novel. To make the book better, I would keep all the plotline and keep all the themes but just make the STYLE of the book a bit more adult! In a way, I admire Mitch Johnson's decision to write a younger book about it but I think it would have been executed just as well, if not better, as an adult novel. Ways of doing that might have been to make the book a bit longer and to make the writing style a bit more literary and just to expand on the themes and story perspective. It worked as the way it came out but I think a more sophisticated genre would have suited it more. 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.

LoveReading4Kids Says

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. Overall, this was an enjoyable book with merit and once again, thank you to my wonderful librarian for sending me this book. If Mitch Johnson was to publish an adult novel in future, I would buy it! I am 100% sure he has the talent to channel all his great ideas into a more sophisticated genre. But the bottom line is: good, solid book and all the best to the debut novelist! Life is hard for him and his family, Mum, Dad and Grandma, and isn’t made any easier by the Dragon, “the most dangerous man in Jakarta”, who can do what he likes as his brother is chief of police and under his control. The Dragon forces Budi to help him in some evilness otherwise his family will suffer. Budi is 11 and trains with his friends to be a professional football player like his hero Kieran Wakefield who plays for Real Madrid. Well, that is he trains when he isn't working in the factory making uppers for the shoes Kieran Wakefield wears. This book would make an excellent discussion topic for classes, looking at children in other cultures, poverty, exploitation, and even natural disasters. The link to football as a way out of poverty, both literally and in helping someone to dream themselves to a better place, is well-used in Budi, who knows how hard life can be.

Kick by Mitch Johnson | WHSmith Kick by Mitch Johnson | WHSmith

The child-labour described in this story remind us that there are parts of the world where education is a luxury; children have bring in money to support the family. Other stories in similar vein is Boys Without Names set in India and Spilled Water set in China. I would recommend this book in reading lists like Diverse Books or Global Citizenship. 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.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!) Whilst 'training' with his friends, his football crashes through a window of The Dragon's house, in trouble and with nowhere to go he follows one of the Dragon's brothers into the house where he is tasked with theft or finding his family out on the street and struggling to survive.