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1. Bibliographic Information
Cohen, A. and Kinder, C. (2006). Confessions of a high school word nerd: Increase your SAT verbal score while laughing your Gluteus* off. New York: Penguin Books.
ISBN: 978-0-14-303836-8
205 pages
2. Plot Summary
This collections of short stories by recent high school graduates offer readers a new way of increasing their vocabulary for the SAT. The book is an attempt to give students a fresh way to study for the verbal portion of the SAT, rather than countless practice exams and flash cards. By integrating vocabulary words, this book offers teenagers a way to better understand the definitions by providing context clues with the story itself, a footnote at the end of the page defining the word, and lastly, including a glossary of all terms at the end of the book. The end of each story also includes a brief biography of the individual authors. These short stories emphasize the trials and tribulations of teenage life including first kisses, being a band geek, joy-riding, being a summer camp counselor, sports teams, internships, being homeschooled, and pulling pranks. The stories are meant to be humorous anecdotes of the authors’ lives, providing teens with a relaxed way of learning.
3. Critical Evaluation
While this book has a great idea, the practicality of its overall purpose seems a little shaky. Integration does provide readers with the ability to discern the meaning of words within the text; however will readers be able to recall the words and their meanings after they are finished? Understandably different people have different ways of studying for a test. Furthermore, it could be assumed that if a student is reading this book, it is probably because they do retain information through reading. Nevertheless, I am not entirely sure that this book will appeal to a wide audience. Many teens need repetition in order to fully grasp concepts and definitions, so while reading the book might be initially helpful students might still need flashcards to learn the definitions. Furthermore, while the short stories do provide the reader with common themes in high school and teenage life, the constant bold SAT words sometimes become a distraction. Ultimately, the idea is nice; but its application is somewhat questionable.
4. Readers Annotation
Read short stories about the trials and tribulations of high school, including a first kiss, summer camp, sports rivalries, Senior pranks, and more, all while studying for the SAT!
5. Information about the Editors
Arianne Cohen graduated from Harvard in 2003, and is currently writes a weekly column for Metro (New York). She has also written the book, Help, It’s Broken!: The Fix-It Bible for the Repair-Impaired as well as articles for Life and the New York Times.
Colleen Kinder graduated from Yale University in 2003. She has also written Delaying the Real World: A Twentysomething’s Guide to Seeking Adventure. She currently lives in Iowa.
6. Genre
Short Stories, Education/SAT Prep
7. Curriculum Ties
This book of short stories would be useful for teens in a English class to help learn new vocabulary, as well as writing about personal experiences, learning about writing comedic stories, and integrating vocabulary into a work without appearing to patronize the audience.
8. Booktalking Ideas
-How do you use context clues to help define a word?
-What are other ways you use to better understand new words?
9. Reading Level/Interest Age
I would encourage students aged 15-17 to read this book.
10. Challenge Issues
While some short stories do have delinquent behavior like joy-riding, Senior pranks, water balloon fights, and a few references to drug use, the intent of the short stories are not to influence readers to try such behaviors. Therefore, while I do not feel this book to be in danger of being challenged, certain themes might not be acceptable to all readers. If the book was challenged I would encourage people to understand what the intent of this book is: an SAT prep. If an issue still arose, I would encourage readers to view the ALA guidelines and challenge form found at:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/index.cfm
Cohen, A. and Kinder, C. (2006). Confessions of a high school word nerd: Increase your SAT verbal score while laughing your Gluteus* off. New York: Penguin Books.
ISBN: 978-0-14-303836-8
205 pages
2. Plot Summary
This collections of short stories by recent high school graduates offer readers a new way of increasing their vocabulary for the SAT. The book is an attempt to give students a fresh way to study for the verbal portion of the SAT, rather than countless practice exams and flash cards. By integrating vocabulary words, this book offers teenagers a way to better understand the definitions by providing context clues with the story itself, a footnote at the end of the page defining the word, and lastly, including a glossary of all terms at the end of the book. The end of each story also includes a brief biography of the individual authors. These short stories emphasize the trials and tribulations of teenage life including first kisses, being a band geek, joy-riding, being a summer camp counselor, sports teams, internships, being homeschooled, and pulling pranks. The stories are meant to be humorous anecdotes of the authors’ lives, providing teens with a relaxed way of learning.
3. Critical Evaluation
While this book has a great idea, the practicality of its overall purpose seems a little shaky. Integration does provide readers with the ability to discern the meaning of words within the text; however will readers be able to recall the words and their meanings after they are finished? Understandably different people have different ways of studying for a test. Furthermore, it could be assumed that if a student is reading this book, it is probably because they do retain information through reading. Nevertheless, I am not entirely sure that this book will appeal to a wide audience. Many teens need repetition in order to fully grasp concepts and definitions, so while reading the book might be initially helpful students might still need flashcards to learn the definitions. Furthermore, while the short stories do provide the reader with common themes in high school and teenage life, the constant bold SAT words sometimes become a distraction. Ultimately, the idea is nice; but its application is somewhat questionable.
4. Readers Annotation
Read short stories about the trials and tribulations of high school, including a first kiss, summer camp, sports rivalries, Senior pranks, and more, all while studying for the SAT!
5. Information about the Editors
Arianne Cohen graduated from Harvard in 2003, and is currently writes a weekly column for Metro (New York). She has also written the book, Help, It’s Broken!: The Fix-It Bible for the Repair-Impaired as well as articles for Life and the New York Times.
Colleen Kinder graduated from Yale University in 2003. She has also written Delaying the Real World: A Twentysomething’s Guide to Seeking Adventure. She currently lives in Iowa.
6. Genre
Short Stories, Education/SAT Prep
7. Curriculum Ties
This book of short stories would be useful for teens in a English class to help learn new vocabulary, as well as writing about personal experiences, learning about writing comedic stories, and integrating vocabulary into a work without appearing to patronize the audience.
8. Booktalking Ideas
-How do you use context clues to help define a word?
-What are other ways you use to better understand new words?
9. Reading Level/Interest Age
I would encourage students aged 15-17 to read this book.
10. Challenge Issues
While some short stories do have delinquent behavior like joy-riding, Senior pranks, water balloon fights, and a few references to drug use, the intent of the short stories are not to influence readers to try such behaviors. Therefore, while I do not feel this book to be in danger of being challenged, certain themes might not be acceptable to all readers. If the book was challenged I would encourage people to understand what the intent of this book is: an SAT prep. If an issue still arose, I would encourage readers to view the ALA guidelines and challenge form found at:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/index.cfm
11. Why was it Selected?
Seeing as the SAT is one of the most stressful exams in high school, I thought it would be helpful to include a prep book.
12. Citations
Challenges to library materials. (2010). In American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/index.cfm
Cohen, A. and Kinder, C. (2006). Confessions of a high school word nerd: Increase your SAT verbal score while laughing your Gluteus* off. New York: Penguin Books.
Picture
Amazon.com. (2010). Confessions of a high school word nerd: Laugh your Gluteus* off and increase your SAT verbal xcore (Paperback). Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-High-School-Word-Nerd/dp/0143038362/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270361288&sr=1-1
Picture
Amazon.com. (2010). Confessions of a high school word nerd: Laugh your Gluteus* off and increase your SAT verbal xcore (Paperback). Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-High-School-Word-Nerd/dp/0143038362/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270361288&sr=1-1
13. Awards
No awards known.
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