Customer Reviews

The Ring of McAllister: A Score-Raising Mystery Featuring 1,000 Must-Know SAT Vocabulary Words

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My mom got me this book for Christmas. I would've preferred a gift certificate or something. Whatever. I read it over winter break and kinda got into it. By the way, I don't agree with Julia. Flipping back to the glossary was my way of testing myself. I'd guess what the word meant and then check to see if I was right. And gimme a break. We're already studying for the SAT by reading the book. Exercises at the end of every chapter would've been overkill. And broken up the story, which was good. I sort of related to Will and what he was feeling (being bored in a small town, etc).

Anyway, I'd recommend this to people. It can't hurt. It works better than stupid memorization (I actually dropped a vocab word while talking to my mom--she was impressed...whatever). It's a better way for people (like me) who prefer trig, calc or chemistry over English class to study.

O.k. for those looking to buy the book for their kids, buy it. Now. I am a private tutor of high school kids of all ability levels and besides relearning a few choice forgotten words, I found the story engaging and Marantz well up to the challenge. This will work for kids of the academic version of little league psychos who have mastered the under 1500 guilt trip or anyone needing to break 1000. Buy it. The book teaches and entertains. Mission successful.

Oh, Kaplan, DO NOT go away. You deserve chastisement (yep, it's in there) on two counts.
1. Your editing. The first 2/3 of the book feel like somebody did their best to geld the author and tack on the same phrases (can we have a word count on "laugh"?) in the place of inspired writing. There is clearly an external attempt to not trust the author and force the manuscript into something is for a 6th grade reading level with a lot of big words shoved in. Luckily you failed.
That's a serious accusation, and one I would not make were it not for the last 1/3 of the novel. All of it sudden it becomes a mature (but still kid-safe) book where Marantz pulls off some genuinely creepy moments, and affects the reader on a deeper level while keeping the stream of SAT vocab steady. Gone are extraneous phrases (characters are free to feel pain or fear without big neon arrows redundantly pointing at them) and only the quality remains. Read Marantz's bio again, and show a little trust.

2. On a similar theme, I would have loved to see a bit more of an effort for the writing community in general. He was serving two masters (well, three counting the orangutan editorial board) and pulled off a credible job. He lives in Los Angeles so with all of the major writers fairs and conferences going on, why is he not speaking? It's difficult enough to write for a target audience, let alone with additional constraints. Think of it this way: some of the best free-verse poets began as formalists; there's a lesson in his discipline. Forget the SAT kids for a moment, there are a lot of aspiring writers who could learn a great deal through his troubles. This would be an excellent text for college creative writing courses because of it's strengths and weaknesses. The production values of the book are excellent. Somebody must have cared. Now do yourselves (i.e. more sales), your author, and the writing community a favor.

I bought this book for my daughter who is taking the SATs in a month. She loved it! Its a story which contains more than 1000 SAT vocabulary words. She said the story was interesting and it was much easier to learn and understand new vocabulary words in the context of a story as opposed to trying to memorize a list. I'm recommending this book to every high schooler I know. I can't believe this is the only book of its kind out there.

I'll be taking the SAT over the summer and am dreading the vocab sections. My mom just got me the Ring, and I finished it in a day. I'm probably going to read it a few times to make sure the words stick in my head. But I'm already feeling better about my vocab.

So finally Kaplan came out with their version of learning SAT vocabulary in context of a book. Like its similar counterparts,"Tooth and Nail" and Barron's "Simon's Saga", this book tries to help students learn vocaulary in a 'novel' way. I think learning words through reading is an effective way to build an great vocabulary and easier than memorizing word lists.

The story is about a high-school student named Will who lives next to an abandoned mansion supposedly haunted by the town hero Algernon McAllister. Will had an incident involving the mansion when he was young and is terrified by the thought of it. Soon enough, a historian and his daughter move next door and strange events start happening. It up to Will and his new neighbor Laura to figure how the mystery of the mansion, and uncover the truth behind the recent chaos in their quiant town.

The author effectively integrates the SAT words into the book and there is a glossary of all the words in the back. I enjoyed this book and learning the words in context , but I think Kaplan could of done a better job of instilling the words into the reader's mind. Like in Simon's Saga, at the end of each chapter every SAT word was defined and there were exercises involving the words. I think this really helped me learn words most effectively. But in "The Ring of McAllister" there are no excercises, and you have to flip back and forth to the glossary to look up words. This can be a pain after a while.

Overall, I like the concept of this book, but I think it could of done a better job of making the reader remember the words with exercises and definitions right at the end of the chapter.

I orginally pick-up the Ring of McAllister to see if it would help my teenagers develop the vocabulary necessary to score well on the SAT. Now, having read the Ring, I know it will improve their vocabulary. Indeed, my vocabulary markedly improved, and I teach college English.

And who would have guessed that an educational book could be such a great read! Once I started The Ring, I couldn't put it down. The improved vocabulary is a fringe benefit. My teenagers and I think the story is the real draw.

I eagerly await Mr. Marantz's next book.

The Ring of McAllister is a very good book written by Robert Marantz. A mystery that is filled with over one thousand vocabulary words that must be known for students taking the SAT test, has a glossary with the words highlighted so that the reader learns the words while reading the text.

The Ring of McAllister is a mystery that took place in a very small town called Red Fork. The main Characters are seventeen year old high school students that are just starting their summer vacation as their junior year just ended. The characters names are Will, Katie, Ty, Laura, and Dr. Perez, which is Laura's father. There are a couple of others but they weren't really main characters.

Will, Katie, and Ty have been best friends for years. There is a mansion next door to Will's house known as Stone Manor. In Stone Manor years ago, a man named McAllister lived there and was killed and disappeared. Everyone that lived in the house after McAllister bad things happened to. A young girl named Laura Perez moves into Stone Manor with her father, Dr. Perez. Strange things start happening like her falling down the stairs, but they figured that it was just a coincidence or bad luck. But when Dr. Perez suddenly disappears, that's when the fun begins.....

Learning words in context, in the form of a novel, is a terrific idea. I agree that it would be even better if the definitions appeared on the same page as the words--as was done in one of the other new "vocabulary builder in the form of a novel" offerings--The Wizard of Oz Vocabulary Builder.

My 15-yr-old son got this book to read and report on for an assignment. He loved the mystery and said he learned some of the SAT vocabulary at the same time. He never reads for fun, but actually read it whenever he could, finishing it before he needed to. This is great testament to the quality of the story. We'd love to find more of this type stories for him to read.

This is an amazing story. I personally think people shouldn't just read this book for its educational value. I agree it serves its purpose rather well. It teached me the vocabulary and improved my skill of using context clues. The only problem was the glossary in the back. But what was the reason it was so helpful?

The main reason was because of the amazing story. The only reason people would want to keep reading was because of its great plot. It has an amazing combination of horror and mystery. It expresses a great deal of problems a person could face in a life. Totally worth every penny I paid for it. I surely suggest this book to everyone not only looking to improve their vocabulary, but also trying to read a good book. I only hope that Mr. Marantz would write more books. Plain AMAZING!!!