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. 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. For the first time in my twenty-oddth delivery, I feel the need to say that I am glad to be the translator of this book. It had too much more than I expected from a children's book about football, which I have dealt with a lot lately. Equivocal tales of Budi's grandmother, purity of the fellowship between Budi and Rochy, and the passion towards dreams - without which certain people simply cannot exist, speaking from experience. There are plenty to take from the slums of Indonesia for a healty social intelligence development and kudos to Mitch Johnson for providing it with 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.

Kick by Mitch Johnson (9781474928151/Paperback) - LoveReading4Kids Kick by Mitch Johnson (9781474928151/Paperback) -

Budi's going to play for the greatest team on earth, instead of sweating over each stitch he sews, each football boot he makes.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. The book was chosen during the time that the Euro2020 competition was occurring, meaning the children's excitement for the book was heightened due to its link to football. The first few chapters of this story focus on Budi's life as a factory worker living in a poor district of Jakarta. It's written in an upbeat and simple way and you'll never look at a pair of high-brand football boots in the same way again. 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. It's a positive read, and while it may not be a 'happy ever after' ending, it does end with hope and the prospect of better tomorrows.

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

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. 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. 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).

Keputusan ada di tanganmu, Budi. Kau harus membuat pilihan.❞ —Hlm. 196 .... ❝Yang harus kau lakukan hanya terus menendang!❞ 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. 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! 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! 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.