On her first summer visit to her grandmother since her grandfather's death, Leah is saddened by his absence, but Gramm helps her learn how to remember Poppy with joy.
A grandfather tells his young grandson about a pencil he once had which magically wrote tales of its life and the lives of its friends: the paper, table, door, and floor.
Grandpa tells a story about a wonderful painting of animals on the walls of a room in an inn, animals which he as a child saw come to life and leave the walls.
Living with her grandfather in a small Oklahoma town, fourteen-year-old Ellie is in constant fear that she will be approached by her father, who is running from the police because he attacked her and mutilated her hand.