15-year-old Penelope (Penny) Wood has two great interests - Chuck Harris and the hope that some day she might become a famous,great writer. Chuck also has two interests - his home-made glider and the hope that some day he will go to Tech college. His indifference to Penny is her chief source of annoyance. Mervyn Roberts, Penny's uncle who is only five years older than she is, arrives home with a guest, Roger Van Vleck, and Penny falls for Roger's sophistication. Chuck, resentful, continues to work on his glider over his father's objections. His father wants it destroyed but Elmer Tuttle, their hired man, hides it.