It's 1978 and Jack Sheffield is beginning his second year as headmaster of a small village school in North Yorkshire. There are three letters on his desk - one maeks him smile, one makes him sad and one is destined to change his life forever. This is from nine-year-old Sebastian, suffering from leukaemia in the local hospital who writes a heartbreaking letter addressed to 'Mister Teacher'. So begins a journey through the seasons of Yorkshire life in which the school is the natural centre of the community.

Local BookCrossers meet, from noon on the second Saturday of every month, at Coffee Link, on Neptune Quay. Why not come along and join us? We're easy to spot - we're the people sitting round a table covered in books!