Nancy is delighted that the new boy in her class is from Paris and sets out to become his friend, then discovers that this Parisian is not quite as fancy as she had thought.

Feeling bad about last year's Field Day, in which her slow running cost the relay team a victory, Nancy, who enjoys using fancy words, finds herself facing another Field Day and another relay race with a mean classmate.

Nancy writes a report for school about her great-grandfather, making things up so he seems less ordinary, but when she learns that Grandpa will be there to hear her read the report aloud she realizes she was dishonest.