This book is about a little girl named Polly who lives in a kitchen drawer called Odds and Ends in the house of sweet, old Patricia Patterson. Polly doesn't feel like she fits in where she lives cause everyone around her has a purpose and is useful. Polly has never even been sharpened and probably won't since Patrick Pencil-Pal came to live there. He makes fun of her all the time and tells her she is useless. Polly wants to find a purpose so sets out on her own to find one. She has a run in with Mrs. Patterson's mean, old cat Rufus who chases her into a room where she meets another pencil like her named Paul. He invites Polly to travel the world with him on his plane he built and she agrees. Polly and Paul have many exciting adventures and make many new friends along the way.