Kate the Great, Except When She's Not

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Author(s)

Suzy Becker

Publisher

Crown Books

Genre(s)

Realistic Fiction

Age Range

10+

Release Date

August 05, 2014

ISBN

978-0385387422

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Kate’s older sister is way too perfect. Her younger sister is way too cute. And her mom wants her to be pals with her frenemy, Nora. Her art teacher, Mrs. Petty, is way too uncreative, and how can Kate pay attention at Junior Guides when her pod leader has a sweat stain the size of the town beach? Now she has to get through her Christopher Columbus role during Discovery Day and her “Colonial Buddies” report, but little does she know how much “help” she’ll be getting from Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Einstein. This humorous debut novel features more than 350 illustrations.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Notebook Novel for the new school year

July 30, 2014 (Updated: June 28, 2026)

Overall rating

3.0

Plot

3.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

3.0

In this notebook novel, 5th grader Kate has to put up with annoying teachers, a new Junior Guide leader, and her mother, who is trying to get her to be friends with Nora. Nora's father is working out of town, so her mother signs her up for Junior Guides because she seems to have no friends. Kate has her own thoughts as to why Nora seems to have no friends-- Nora is off putting and seems not to want any. Kate's a good kid, so she tries to be as nice as she can. There are other things going on-- class projects, parties, and various friend, teacher and family problems, all accompanied by Kate's lists and art work.

This book deals realistically with problems that elementary students face, and notebook novels are always popular. This is far more age appropriate and more positive than The Dork Diaries, so this is a good choice for elementary readers who want a lot of illustrations with their chapter book.