Kick

Product Information

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. 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. His family can not afford food some days in the week and when they do eat it is just rice and vegetables.

One day his life changes when he accidentally kicks the ball through the window of corrupt local money-lender The Dragon. 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.He’s going to play for the greatest team on earth, rather than in the square behind the factory where he works. A necessary lesson for everyone about the realities of football kit manufacturing and the discrepancy between the heroes that make the products and the heroes that get to wear them on the biggest stages around the globe. And when Budi attracts the notice of the dangerous Dragon, it seems less and less likely that he will ever achieve his dream.

The story is about a boy who is to poor to go to school so he works in a factory making football boots for professional footballers.Family and friends always coming first, it is arguably a bit cliched, but I like the message it gives. The community is also threatened by corruption; a local gangster, the Dragon, extorts protection money from local businesses and residents with impunity due to his familial links with the head of the police, and is reputed to have murdered his own brother. It makes you laugh and cry, devastates you and gives you hope, and leaves you wanting to change the world.

It's wonderful, addressing exploitation of child labour and using football to drive home the stark inequality present in our world. 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. His dream is to a pro footballer but he has some condition which makes him bleed loads which could lead to death. Budi tells us that Rochy is the cleverest person he knows but that he had to withdraw from school because he needed to work to support his family. They work for a pittance and, despite both Budi and his Dad working, the family still does not have enough income to eat a meal every day.One of his jobs is sewing, hence the sewn writing on the cover for the word KICK and the sewn thread design through the book at the opening of chapters.