Confessions of a High School Word Nerd: Laugh Your Gluteus* Off and Increase Your SAT Verbal Score

by Arianne Cohen, Colleen Kinder

Effortlessly acquire an SAT vocabulary through hilarious high school essays Every year, 9 million American students expend large amounts of time and energy preparing for proficiency and entrance exams like the SAT, ACT, PSAT, and SSAT with a heap of vocabulary flash cards and a fat volume of repetitive practice tests. Each one of them, along with their parents and teachers, wishes that there was a less painful way to prepare for test day. There is, and this book is the a collection of ten well-written, entertaining essays by recent college-graduates-turned-writers that honestly and amusingly recount wild, traumatizing, and hilarious high-school events, using common SAT words as a study tool.
(* any of the large muscles of the buttocks; gluteus maximus)

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[C.G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't actually finish this book. The premise sounded good, but I found after about three essays written about high school experiences that I couldn't identify with in the least and didn't interest me, that was enough. Also, since I knew all the words they were highlighting, it just bothered me that the words were bolded since that meant that in my mind I was emphasising them as I was reading and the emphasis rarely made any sense.

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!}]

I'm sure this is a great book that I will regret not reading, but it doesn't look to be my style at this moment. I also need to clear out a lot of books, that at this moment, I have no intention of reading. This is one of them. I hope that someone else will read this and love it.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a really good book, I liked how the editors spent the time to put together this book to educate younger students who may need help with things like speech and grammar, the editor of the book (Arianne Cohen) is actually the daughter of the lady I dog walk for, she let me borrow this book from her knowing I would be starting high school in a year, I'm really grateful that she did, as I found this book to be very educational.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a great premise to it: short, true stories about high school kids and a chance to pick up some SAT vocabulary along the way. So naturally, I picked it up and found that every story offered a vivid look into someone else's high school experience. Some I found more interesting than others, but the great thing is that you can pick and choose which ones you actually want to read.

While reading, I'd sometimes think: Hey, these things have actually happened, and not just in the movies. Kids, beyond whom I've met, can be crazy and rebellious, funny and weird, and that's awesome. All of the contributing writers of this book are parts of the academic elite (Ivy League grads, mostly from Harvard or Yale), so I was astonished that they dealt with teenage problems in the same fashion as reckless kids might (though not always the case).

One thing to note is that some of the SAT words highlighted in the book are pretty easy (I believe "energize" was one), but some were also hard words that I didn't know before. It varies. To really "learn" the words, I would just stop for a second and think about it in another context. I didn't do this all the time, because that would have gotten me out of the story's flow. All considered, this is a light read that's great for filling up time during a commute or break.

[Andréa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was surprised by the number of typos/errors present in my copy (which is not an ARC), which included at least one misspelled highlighted SAT word! Some of the words were also used in what I thought were strange ways; if you're teaching the words, shouldn't they be used in the ideal/correct way? Finally, I was disappointed that all of the authors attended either Yale (most) or Harvard -- there are other schools out there! Since this book is clearly aimed at juniors and seniors, a wider representation of schools could serve to open their minds to the other schools available.

All in all, the stories themselves were entertaining enough, but I much prefer the Sparknotes SAT vocab novels to this book.

[Jennifer Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few stories were interesting and fun so it actually helped in getting to know the vocabularies while having fun, but as it went towards the end, the stories got kind of boring, so it didnt help learning vocabularies at the end. Still, it has some great funny stories, and connects to the vocabularies too.

[Rebecca Dumont · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book, because I thought it would be a cute easy summer read. Well I was right about it being easy, so easy in fact that I did not even want to finish it. There were "cute" true stories, but the Vocab that it is supposedly improving is not that impressive at all. Some of the words that they had in bold print I would be shocked that most people would not understand. So either I have to high of an expectaion for high school vocabulary or the writers have to low. Either way this is not a book that I would not give to someone who is getting ready for the SAT's.

[Readersaurus]

Years ago, our cat (himself long gone now) utterly destroyed a brand-new library copy of this book. He clawed it, he bit it, he devoured it. I paid for it. This morning, during a very short bout of spring cleaning, I found it in a warren of dust bunnies. I think I'll read it!

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

i read this to laugh and "to broaden my intellectual horizon"

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short anecdotes are very cute and enjoyable. This is a great read if you're preparing for the SATs since the vocabulary words just stick in your head.

[Jessie Adamczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I'll definitely use pieces of this in my classroom.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A creative way to understand new vocabulary in context! I did find the boldfacing of words somewhat distracting but that's how the author has to do it!