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. Budi is 11 and trains with his friends to be a professional football player like his hero Kieran Wakefield who plays for Real Madrid. Well, that is he trains when he isn't working in the factory making uppers for the shoes Kieran Wakefield wears. 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. 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!

And THEN Budi leaves and, on a complete whim, goes and gives the money to his friend! So not only did Budi miss out on the opportunity to improve life for all his family by getting rid of their poverty, providing a school life for himself and also potentially buying a better house in a better place, but also he completely disrespects all his uncle's efforts to get this money as his final move before his death especially with his nephew in mind. Maybe I'm just selfish and cold-hearted but personally, I think that is a pretty poor way to repay him! 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. I understand why the publishers have done it because they want the book to appeal to the audience which the book is written for. The writing style in this is, most of the time, quite plain: it is very compatible with children between the ages of 12-15 maybe and there is something in the writing style which reminded me a lot of how YA books are written, in general. That cover would very easily appeal to teenagers, especially boys!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.

For example, at one point in the book, we see Budi's favourite football player in quite a difficult situation in terms of scoring a penalty in unfortunate circumstances. 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. So the lesson to always spur on with your dreams translates really well into football in that example.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. Other stories in similar vein is Boys Without Names set in India and Spilled Water set in China. I would recommend this book in reading lists like Diverse Books or Global Citizenship. Unfortunately the reality of Budi’s life is very different. He lives in Jakarta in a cramped dwelling with his extended family. He works in a sweat shop producing football boots for a company of ‘white men’. His uncle is in prison and soon his father finds himself on the wrong side of the law. The last thing Budi needs is to inadvertently become involved with The Dragon – the most feared man in Jakarta.