BELLOWS FALLS — The Bellows Falls Union High School Literary Kick-Off project presents a public screening of the basketball documentary film “Through the Fire” on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Rockingham Free Public Library.
Basketball ought to be just a game, but on the playgrounds of the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., it's much more than that: For many young men, it represents their only route out of poverty and the housing projects that dominate the Coney Island landscape.
“Through the Fire” (2005; 103 min.) is the story of a young man and the game of basketball and how basketball will change his life, the life of his family, and the young man's community.
That young man is Sebastian Telfair, and this film follows him through his senior year of Abraham Lincoln High School, a high school basketball powerhouse in New York, during the 2003-2004 basketball season.
This year's Literary Kick-Off book is “The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams” (2004; Mariner Books) by Darcy Frey, which chronicles the aspirations of four promising Coney Island basketball players who also attend Abraham Lincoln High School.
All BFUHS students received a copy of the book and have been encouraged to read it over the summer and into this school year.
Copies are available for the community at the Rockingham Free Public Library and for sale at the Village Square Booksellers. Additional activities to support the book's content have been organized, including an essay contest and author visit.