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Posted 20 hours ago

Kick

£3.995£7.99Clearance
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I would definitely recommend this story as an eye-opener as well as a heart-wrenching and heart-warming tale. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Budi and his grandmother - a chain-smoking, housebound character - who provides wonderful stories to teach her grandson some important lessons in life. I think Johnson tries to cover it up with comparisons to football but as an adult reading this, I can see past it.

I feel that the themes of this book are really important and that it would be a worthwhile class read! He's going to play for the greatest team on earth, rather than in the square behind the factory where he works. This is a story about young boys trying to make a better life for themselves whilst the harsh realities of their situation are constantly trying to smother their dreams. And when Budi attracts the notice of the dangerous Dragon, it seems less and less likely that he will ever achieve his dream.

He lives a hard life generally, which is laid out with no holds barred (whilst still being appropriate for older primary school children), and throughout the book he faces a lot of hard, sometimes heartbreaking challenges, but his love for football and his dream to one day play for Real Madrid spur him on and keep him 'kicking'.

Even with his family in poverty, surrounded by crime lords and unsettling people, he plays in the streets of Malaysia until dark. We are right there with them, through the horrors they face, but there is humour, and warmth, and a wonderful relationship between the main two children. From here on in the book becomes altogether darker, there are some violent and some upsetting scenes, and some younger readers may need reassurance and support from their parents.I gave it three out of five stars and I was very pleased about that because when I picked it up, I honestly thought it was going to get two stars so I'm glad I actually ended up enjoying it. The book follows the story of a young Budi who lives in the slums of Malaysia, but he has one dream, to play for Real Madrid. Budi especially because he is just like a lot of young boys and girls out there, who's lifelong dream is to play pro football and nothing will stop them. As with so many books, this is a story about hopes, dreams and friendships and how these can shine through in difficult circumstances. He’s going to play for the greatest team on earth, rather than in the square behind the factory where he works.

I can see other children having the same problem, especially those who are not familiar with popular football teams and players. 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! But one unlucky kick brings Budi’s world crashing down, because now he owes the Dragon, the most dangerous man in all Jakarta. This book began with a really enticing hook and I think that it would definitely appeal to children who are interested in football.I also do question though some of Budi's reasoning in this novel-why would he give his best friend money and not keep any for himself, particularly when he and his family are so poor? I think everyone should read this whether you like football or not, because it is such an important story, tackling real issues, but so full of heart and hope.

It will also raise an awareness of important issues such as child labour, lack of the human rights many of us take for granted in some parts of the world, and corrupt authorities.The trouble with being a dreamer is that occasionally you’ll have nightmares – you’ve just got to make sure they don’t ever spook you enough to want to wake up. The poorly paid labourers, the uncomfortable working conditions, the tyrannical foreman with his rotan, the punishments, the blood, the sweat, the tears.

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