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. 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.

Mitch Johnson has skilfully used football as a vehicle to present many deeper issues. By doing so, the theme of football will grab the attention of many readers and gives a tangible way into the more complex strands of narrative. 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. If you like soccer, then this is is the book for you. Budi lives in a poor part of Jakarta and dreams of being a star soccer player like his idol Kieran Wakefield. He and his friends work in a shoe factory where they are beaten if they fail to fill their daily quota. He accepts this, as his parents need money to eat and live. In fact, Budi knows that on Fridays he won't get anything to eat for dinner, until his father is paid next. Budi lives with his parents and his grandmother, who tells him stories of past events in her life and his. He makes sense of his life from these stories and creates his own reality from them. All is going well for him until he angers the Dragon, the most dangerous man in the area. Then, Budi is forced to make some difficult decisions that change him irrevocably.

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!) and it follows a boy named Budi in who lives in Indonesia with his parents and his paternal grandmother; the family are very poor and they cannot afford to send Budi to school so he works in a factory which makes football boots for professional players. It is focused on ambition; it's focused on following dreams; it's focused on the injustice of a legal system, among many other things. The main focus of the novel is Budi's strong ambition to become a professional footballer and there are disadvantages barring that dream: 1) because of his poverty and therefore that situation being, at first glance, next to impossible and 2) Budi also has a genetically passed down condition which prevents his blood from clotting properly so not only does a cut need to be tended to a lot so as to prevent constant bleeding but also, he could potentially start bleeding internally due to an injury and not be aware of that until he dies suddenly. 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. 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. Ketika membaca kisah Budi, aku sama sekali tidak merasa buku ini digarap penulis luar (baca : Mitch Johnson). Mengingat terjemahannya begitu mengalir, walaupun ada beberapa yang terkesan masih dipaksakan, terutama dalam dialog Budi dan teman-temannya. Di luar itu, it's really good! Of course, this is not a perfect book, as symbolised by the 3/5 stars. I had two issues with this book, one of which I have already partially highlighted: 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!

Another problem I had was actually a specific plot point. I'll try not to give anything away but, in effect: there is something that happens towards the end of the book which COULD potentially have changed the course of a character's life and the way things turned out really annoyed me! (It will be at the bottom hidden behind a spoiler warning so you can read it if you want to!) 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.

Budi tries to work hard and fast to avoid the rotan the foreman swings. In his family is a strain of haemophilia that makes it hard to stop the blood flowing if he gets hurt.