Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the New SAT
admin | Dec 21, 2009 | 5 comments
- ISBN13: 9780156013826
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
An SAT vocabulary-building program in the lively form of a mystery novel. Now students who take the Scholastic Assessment Test can learn more than 1,200 SAT words, improve reading comprehension, and enjoy a good story all at the same time. Includes exercises, glossary with page references.
Amazon.com Review
Abate, abhor, abject, abridge, abstemious ... still awake? Good, because now there's a better way to learn all those words than plowing through those never-ending vocabulary lists devised by torture experts. Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the New SAT is just what it says it is: a guide to the big, bad SAT words in the form of a mystery novel. Follow Caitlin and Phil's exploits as they wend their way through their first year of college and find intrigue behind the curtain of academia. As you do, you'll find a few words in boldface, each of which is defined and compared with other words in a glossary in the back of the book. Seeing the word in its context and immediately finding a definition is a much more satisfying way to learn than just to read word after unconnected word--you might as well read the dictionary! A preface explains in greater detail how best to use the book, and there are helpful SAT-style exercises in antonyms, analogies, and comprehension, so this makes a great all-around verbal package for the serious test-taker. If you must take the test, you might as well have a little fun doing it, and by the time you've finished Tooth and Nail, you'll be glad it doesn't end as a list: "...wizened, wreak, writhe, zeal, zealous." --Rob Lightner
$2.23
Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the New SAT
Filed Under: Books Today
This book is the bomb. Studying for the SAT hasn’t been easier
Rating: 5 / 5
I’m a freshman at my high school. for my Honors Humanities class, i had to read Tooth & Nail. For a freshman, i think reading tooth & nail was completely useless. It got really annoying seeing BOLD words everywhere you read. Also, there were parts that didnt need to be written. They were just written so they can add in SAT words. I didn’t even like the story.
Rating: 1 / 5
Tooth and Nail, Charles Elster and Joseph Elliot. New York: Harcourt, 1993. 283.
Tooth and Nail, Charles Elster, and Joseph Elliot are a spectacular team. This is a mysterious and suspenseful thriller while also prepping its reader for the grueling SAT. The words tie in perfectly to the interesting, “cant put it down” story of a girl, Caitlin, who is going off to college and learning more than she wished. While Caitlin goes to class and hangs out with her new dorm buddies she also wants to make a name for herself. She decides to join the Holyfield Newspaper. She enjoys her first few assignments and makes some new friends but soon she’s finding herself interviewing victims and almost becoming a “detective”, searching for a very, very, important/truth-setting item!
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I think I learned a great deal of new vocabulary. I plan to take the SAT and ACT in the next few months and I think that I am more prepped now than I ever was thanks to Tooth and Nail.
Rating: 4 / 5
I love Charles Harrington Elster and his Verbal Advantage series and I think I would have loved this format but the quality of the cassette tape was so awful, that I just gave up in the middle. Big disappointment. I wish Elster would remaster.
Rating: 1 / 5
Tooth and Nail. Charles Herrington Elster and Joseph Elliot. New York: Harcott, 1994. 283.
The book, Tooth and Nail, was written by Charles Elster and Joseph Elliot to prepare the reader for the verbal part of the SAT by expanding the reader’s vocabulary. This book was about three college students trying to solve a mysery that had a big reward at the end which was coveted by an unknown adversary. After reading the book, I found it to be great for learning new words and improving reading comprehension.
In the form of a mystery novel, Tooth and Nail is actually a guide to many challenging SAT vocabulary words. Each bold word in the novel is defined in the back of the book in the glossary, some of which have synonyms. By reading a word in context and then looking up its definition in the back, the reader will learn new words faster and more efficiently than he would studying a list of endless words. More than twelve hundred upper-level words show up in the book that have popped up on numerous SATs, and will strengthen vocabulary based on the level of enthusiasm put forth to study them.
On recieving a letter from the deceased, Propero, Phil, Caitlin and Leo go on a treasure hunt to search for a priceless, truth-revealing item. Although they are excited and eager to get started, nothing could have prepared them for what they are about to encounter. While searching for each clue, Phil and Caitlin were followed by a creepy fellow who tried assaulting them. This angered the group because they knew someone was hot on their trail that knew what they were searching for and the value of it. With this new information, they realized finding the treasure wouldn’t be a piece of cake.
By reading the book, I believe I have increased my vocabulary tremendously and think it has prepared me for the verbal part of the SAT very well. By taking this into consideration, I think the book has fully achieved its goal. Compared to other books that have preparation for the SAT, I believe Tooth and Nail is right up there with the rest of them. For increasing vocabulary and reading comprehension, it is one of the best books out there. I like that there are bold words that are defined in the back and how the author switches the characters’ thoughts back and forth simultaneously. The author describes the setting so vividly with every minute detail, that it feels like I have actually been to the campus before. The character’s body and facial expressiones and stature are so clear that I can picture them in my mind exactly how they look.
All in all, Tooth and Nail is a solid, tenacious book that provides the reader with a promising vocabulary, improved reading comprehension and an interesting mystery that is fun to read, all combined into one. After reading this book, I believe I am now prepared for the verbal part of the SAT in both aspects of vocabulary and reading comprehension.
Rating: 4 / 5