Fact1: story is told through eyes of Zoe, Fact2: Cloe is frustrated with inability to do travel to Vancouver to see Beatles, Fact3: catalyst for change for somewhat stagnant lives arrives in form of Anne-Marie, Fact4: Anne-Marie takes up residence in local cottage, Fact5: new teacher 's progressive ideas shake up little school
Output: The story is told mostly through the eyes of Zoe, the younger Kingswood daughter. The Kingswoods seem to live a happy life, though teenage Cloe is frustrated with an inability to do things, like travel to Vancouver to see the Beatles. A catalyst for change for their somewhat stagnant lives arrives in the form of AnneMarie MicheleBarbara Pelletier, Zoes new teacher at the school where Hal Kingswood is principal. AnneMarie arrives late on her first day of work with all of her belongings packed into her Volkswagen bus and takes up residence in a local cottage. The new teachers progressive ideas shake up the little school, much to the irritation of Hal the staid and stodgy principal. Zoe and most of her class are immediately delighted with the lovely and vivacious young AnneMarie who teaches them through song and art. One evening, AnneMarie invites Zoe over to her little cottage. As AnneMarie bathes in her woodfired, outdoor bathtub, she gives Zoe a book of spells, which is ostensibly the mechanism through which change comes to the sleepy little island. Change is relatively mild at first  Cloe gets her first boyfriend, Dwayne Spittle, and Zoe learns how to make the wind gust. Real change comes to Galiano Island when Hal discovers thanks to Zoe that his long dead father hasnt been dead for decades, as previously presumed, and only recently died his ashes were shipped to Hals mother. Hals father abandoned Hal and his mother, Flora Frances Hyland, when Hal was a child. Hal is rocked by the revelation of his fathers abandonment, the fact that his father was alive, and his mothers lies. The combination of the shock of Hals fathers death and Hals anger leads Flora to suffer a stroke. Hal is in a tailspin. When he chances upon AnneMarie crying in her bus, he takes a moment to learn more about her, discovering that she abandoned her fiance at the altar and that her mother calls her every morning to remind her that she is a disappointment. As AnneMarie talks of wanting to sail away to Mexico, Hal joins in and the two of them share a kiss, which scares both of them. As fall sets in, Hal gets closer and closer to AnneMarie while Cloe gets closer and closer to her new boyfriend, Dwayne. After Halloween, Zoe and her friend, Jo, see Hals car parked in front of AnneMaries cottage and decide to take a closer peek. They discover the two lovers kissing passionately and quietly sneak away. Zoe attempts to curse her teacher with limited success. In the meantime, Cloe and Dwayne break the news to Cloes parents that Cloe is pregnant and they are not getting married, leaving Hal and Diana reeling. When Diana Kingswood discovers that AnneMarie has no plans for Christmas, she immediately insists she have Christmas dinner with them. Its all too much for Zoe and she bolts from the dinner table. When Hal follows her up to her room, Zoe confronts him about his affair with AnneMarie. Soon, everyone at the table knows. Diana kicks out Hal and burns his boat to the ground. Unexpectedly, Hals mother, Flora, passes away. Diana and Hal embrace at the funeral. AnneMarie is confronted by her students about her affair with Hal and soon resigns. AnneMarie leaves town and is replaced by a young male teacher.