Katherine Anastasia Wells-Roderick is a smart, creative girl who is not afraid to show the world who she is. Katherine wants to be called Kate the Great and is determined to convince her classmates that it's her rightful nickname. When Kate the Great moves to Raleigh, NC with her mom, dad, and older brother Leo, she tries her hardest to convince the other kids that she's awesome. As she's nearing the end of her first-grade year at Oakley Point Elementary School, Katherine finds a way to lose herself in a school project. A budding artist, Kate the Great commits herself fully to her school's art contest, even forgetting to brush her hair before school because she's so busy working on it. By the time the art contest arrives, Kate has decided that she just wants to turn in an amazing project and isn't even thinking about being "Kate the Great" anymore, and that's true...almost.