Meski begitu, Budi tidak serta merta kehabisan akal, dengan kepolosannya dia mulai melancarkan aksinya. This debut comes out this month in September; it is a book primarily for teenagers (though this is fairly compatible with a certain type of adult reader!) and it follows a boy named Budi in who lives in Indonesia with his parents and his paternal grandmother; the family are very poor and they cannot afford to send Budi to school so he works in a factory which makes football boots for professional players. It is focused on ambition; it's focused on following dreams; it's focused on the injustice of a legal system, among many other things. The main focus of the novel is Budi's strong ambition to become a professional footballer and there are disadvantages barring that dream: 1) because of his poverty and therefore that situation being, at first glance, next to impossible and 2) Budi also has a genetically passed down condition which prevents his blood from clotting properly so not only does a cut need to be tended to a lot so as to prevent constant bleeding but also, he could potentially start bleeding internally due to an injury and not be aware of that until he dies suddenly. On the front of the book, it has the quote: "The Only Thing Standing In His Way Is Everything" and that is really symbolised through the telling of this story. Budi works in a footwear factory in Indonesia, making the football boots he longs to wear but is unlikely to ever afford. His ambition is to be a famous football player for a team like Real Madrid, but Budi’s reality is rather different. The conditions in the sweatshop are appalling, and instead of the luxurious life enjoyed by his idols, Budi has to go without food to manage on his tiny salary and live under constant threat of abuse and intimidation from the factory foreman. And when Budi attracts the notice of the dangerous Dragon, it seems less and less likely that he will ever achieve his dream.

Kick | BookTrust Kick | BookTrust

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. 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. Keputusan tepat MJ— lebih nyaman memanggilnya begitu HEHE— mengeksekusi konfliknya secara perlahan dan menyenangkan, tak ada kesan terburu-buru di bagian manapun, hanya saja karena di puluhan halaman pembuka seperti yang kupaparkan di review sebelumnya— tepatnya penghantar konfliknya bisa kubilang sangat membosankan, karena itu 3.7/5⭐dariku untuk karya terbaik MJ ini. Meski begitu, tetap kerja bagus brother! 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. For that reason, part of me does understand why the cover has been done that way. However, forgetting about the target audience and doing my job as a book reviewer, I would certainly say that the merits of this book are so much higher than that cover.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!

Kick by Mitch Johnson | Goodreads Kick by Mitch Johnson | Goodreads

Of course, this is not a perfect book, as symbolised by the 3/5 stars. I had two issues with this book, one of which I have already partially highlighted: 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. 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. The author has incorporated some Indonesian words and food. I am from Singapore, one of Indonesia's neighbours. Growing up in this multi-cultural society, I know a few Malay words and am familiar with some foods. I've only been to Indonesia a couple of times and cannot vouch if those words are truly used in Indonesia but some of the words are not what we use in Singapore. Nevertheless, they give a flavour of the place.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. The book begins and we also meet his friend Rochy who is, like Budi, a massive fan of football and there is a lot of focus in here on their mutual dreams and their connection of friendship through this shared love of football. 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 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.