Kick

Product Information

At the back of the book it says Mitch Johnson’s next novel will be about PTSD (I think) and if that subject matter is treated as sensitively and skillfully as it is in Kick, it will be another classic. I found this book to be really eye-opening and could provide children with insight into what life might be like for children in other parts of the world. This is a heart-warming story about Budi, who lives on the gritty streets of an island in Indonesia, and his dream of one day playing for Real Madrid and scoring at the Bernabeu. However, the closest that he has come to reaching this dream is working in a factory that makes the football boots worn by his favourite player. Lively, funny, always optimistic, Budi will win readers’ hearts and his positivity ensures the book remains an accessible page-turner even as his life gets very bleak indeed.

kick | mitch johnson kick | mitch johnson

In his family is a strain of haemophilia that makes it hard to stop the blood flowing if he gets hurt. Budi (the main character) continues to follow his dreams to be like his hero someday, even with a lot of trouble thrown in his path. He’s going to be a star, instead of sweating over each football boot he makes, each stitch he sews, each box he packages. 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. We know this is the start of a long and glittering career for Mitch, and are thrilled to have played a part in bringing this book to readers everywhere.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. I do not know what it is like to go hungry, or to work in fear of violence, or to live next door to destitution. One thing I found interesting here is that on the back, it says this book is good for fans of Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Kick | BookTrust Kick | BookTrust

Ketika membaca kisah Budi, aku sama sekali tidak merasa buku ini digarap penulis luar (baca : Mitch Johnson). This isn't a perfect book, by any means, but I enjoyed the process and it is an impressive shot for a debut. Maybe I'm just selfish and cold-hearted but personally, I think that is a pretty poor way to repay him!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! It highlights the issues faced by those living in a society where most people are just about scraping enough money together to get by. As said, I thought that I was going to give it two stars and for me, two stars is bad and three stars is good.

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

I won't be spoiling anything but it does get very intense and very deeply emotional (some very nasty stuff happens! This first part of the novel could have been tightened up and then the tension would have continued through to the gripping finale. Overall I loved this book, the literary devices, characters and use of language were all great, but for me, there was just too much happening sometimes. The first-half of the story sets the scene whilst the second-half picks up the pace with the Dragon getting more involved and the story comes to a thrilling end making the story a good read.

However, the young boy tries it and the people set up a net for him to jump down into but he never finds the confidence until he drinks the coconut milk and then he feels confident enough to look past all the dangers and jump down. Overall, this was an enjoyable book with merit and once again, thank you to my wonderful librarian for sending me this book. 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.

Kick by Mitch Johnson | Waterstones Kick by Mitch Johnson | Waterstones

It sums up the entire book really well and leaves the reader with a sense of joy, as if the story had been complete. and then it becomes more a story of morals and making the right decisions in life as oppose to the easy decisions. As much as I hope Kick will shed light on a desperate global issue, I feel it must also remain a testament to the transcendent, unifying power of sport.Set during World War I, this book tells the compelling true story of the professional footballers who signed up to fight. I rooted for Budi through the entire story, hoping that he would get his big break into the footballing world but the reality is that only a tiny percentage of dreamers get that opportunity. 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!