Books for Prep | |
 - Good for the younger test-takerI purchased this for my daughter, who is a 7th grader preparing to take the ACT through the gifted program. She used it in a study group at school. Not only was it helpful for the test, but she said the story was fun to read. Having read some of the less-favorable reviews, perhaps this worked for her because she is so young and hasn't been exposed to the more difficult vocabulary that a high school student might. I also think using it in a teacher-guided session made a big difference in helping her learn the vocabulary. Rating:  - Better than a sharp stick in the eye..... maybeBetter than a sharp stick in the eye....maybe Although the concept seems like a good idea, in reality due to the lack of any real plot the only thing this "novel" managed to do was drone on and on and on while going absolutely nowhere. The cramming of three to four words in a single sentence was just annoying. The chapter on the radio talk show was so mind numbingly boring that I considered just blowing the assignment off and going to the beach. For example, "...I would like to ask our listeners to abandon for a moment the tedious insistence on objective fact and impartial analysis that tyrannizes so much scholarship and to indulge instead there powers of speculation." Seriously, is all that needed to get the thought across? Or are they just using a lot of words to fill up space (like most kids on their English essays). However because it was assigned reading and I will be graded on it I persevered. Most of the words I am already familiar with. The ones I was not were not driven home, as it were, by this style of study. I think my time will be better spent in an SAT Prep class, and using practice tests. Certainly more time consuming but far less painful. Really, reading a dictionary cover to cover would have been a better use of time. It probably would have also been a better read. Again, the concept could have been a good one if the authors had given more thought to the audience that they were writing for. One sure way to impede the education process for my age group is to bore us to tears. The question remains would I recommend this book. To the student that has grown up in an inarticulate environment with no real grasp of the English language well, yeah, maybe. For the rest of the overstressed, pre SAT crowd who have been exposed to the world at large, save your money. Rating: - A Complete Waste of TimeI read this book for an english summer homework assignment. Although the back description and introduction allude to an interesting and valuable read, do not expect much. This book is a sore disappointment for anyone who possesses a genuine love of reading. The plot is unbelievably simplistic and unoriginal and it was difficult for me to believe that two well educated scholars wrote it. I was bored to tears after the opening paragraph of the "story" and have had a tough time finishing it. If it weren't for the fact that I will be tested on this, I would have gladly exchanged it for a more engaging read. In terms of SAT prep, it was not entirely helpful there either. Many times throughout the book, it seemed as though the authors exchanged simpler words for complex, lesser known SAT words. The problem was that the SAT words did not fit the context and were spoken by characters that would not have had any clue about the word. The characters were dull and 2-D without ever developing or being explored. The dialogue was unreal and forced. All in all, this was a horrible book that did not teach me any new words. It was torture to read. Like a previous reviewer said, for SAT prep words read some classic novels where you will be entertained as well as educated. For a REAL mystery, try "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. Rating:  - Good for the clueless....When I first saw this book, I was excited with this "novel" approach. My friend said it was good, so I started reading. What I found, however, was that 95% of the words I already knew. I'm studying for my SATs, so I know a sizable amount of words. I was hoping to learn new and challenging words. Some of the words are absurd. Words like biased, indifferent, spontaneous, captivating, articulate, tentative, convey, intiated, diverse (i just happened to flip to a random page (p.25) and am listing some bold-faced words) appear a billion times on the pages. Some of the words were new to me, like masquerade (which I doubt I will find on the SAT). Most of the words however were elementary and definately did not improve my vocabulary. When I first read all those 3 star reviews I didn't want to believe them, so I tried the book anyway. Needless to say I am disapointed. Aside from other problems that I won't mention (but other customers have, such as the lack of a plot or the flipping to the back, which you wont need to be doing very often if you're studying for the SATs), this book's vocabulary is very limited. To sum it up, if you're looking to study for an examination and want to learn challenging words, try another book (personally I've been trying to memorize word lists and have ordered Kaplan's Ring of McAllister, another novel). If you don't know anything, don't want to study word lists, don't want to try other SAT vocabulary novels, or just want to review some basic vocabulary words such as adjacent, complex, nuture, diversity, bizarre, dominant............, well then this book is for you. Rating:  - A good idea, but it has its hits and misses....I was required to read Tooth and Nail for my etymology class. The whole purpose of this class is to learn vocabulary for the SAT. While my verbal score did increase, it wasn't because of reading the book. The idea is a good one: using words in context is one of the best ways to learn words, in my opinion. But, as many reviews have already stated, it was extremely tedious having to flip through the back of the book just to see what the word means. I noticed that the longer I read, the less I flipped through the back. The authors call Tooth & Nail a mystery novel, yet the "mystery" part only compromises the last 40% or so of the book. The preceding stuff is just garbage -- extremely slow exposition. There is even a chapter (the "radio chat" for those of you that have read this book) that serves ABSOLUTELY no purpose, other than to cram in words. That's fine and dandy, except one thing: the less interesting a book gets, the less likely you'll finish it. You can tell that the authors haven't visited a college campus for a while (yet, I think they put forth valiant effort trying to make it seem real.) Indeed, I augmented my lexicon from taking etymology, but most of it was from a wordlist book. Contrary to what many people say, word-books are a good way to learn lists of words, so long as they provide exercises---this is what I recommend instead of (or at LEAST in addition to) this book. In association with Amazon.com | |