Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: This book was a huge waste of time. It uses high vocabulary but provides ineffective context clues. Thus,you need to look up every vocabulary word in the glossary. That's the point of the book, but the process becomes so annoying that many people end up skipping the high vocabulary words, thus defeating the purpose of the book. The story's plotline was unrealistic and did not keep my attention. The biggest advice about the book that I can give someone: Don't read it unless you absolutely have to.
Rating: 
Summary: Great SAT preparation, ok story
Review: Tooth and Nail is a fun mystery story that contains many SAT-level words in boldface and has a glossary in the back. I found this to be an effective way of increasing my vocabulary, because I got to see each word used in context. In combination with studying word roots (etymology), reading this book helped me increase my SAT I verbal score about 170 points. Why aren't there more SAT preparation books like this?The story itself is about two incoming college freshmen who gradually find out that strange things are going on around the campus. It's not the most enjoyable story, but it is interesting and relevant to people who are preparing for the SAT (and, as others have said, a whole lot more fun than memorizing word lists).
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: 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: 
Summary: TOOTH AND NAIL REVIEW
Review: Tooth and Nail, Charles Ester and Joseph Elliot. New York: Harcourt, 1994. 283. The book Tooth and Nail, written by Charles Ester and Joseph Elliot, is a mystery novel which is designed to enhance the reader's SAT vocabulary, with high level words written in bold print and included in a glossary in the back of the book. Tooth and Nail is a mystery set in fictitious Holyfield College where a benefactor who recently died (Edward Prospero) has willed the college library a collection of rare and priceless books. It follows three students, one of whom had interned for Prospero before his death, and a professor as they pursue the rarest of all the books through a literary puzzle that prospero left behind. The team also has to work against a mysterious attacker who the protagonists believe to be prospero's grandson Teddy. This mystery man is willing to go as far as to kill for the priceless book. Reading Tooth and Nail proves to be a much more interesting way to augment one's vocabulary than memorizing endless lists of words as done in the past. The book is written in third person and gives detailed descriptions of settings and characters, but does sometimes sound bombastic. It seems as though some of the descriptions were written only to use more vocabulary words. The book achieves its goal of teaching vocabulary to the reader, but does not have an extremely interesting plot. Overall, tooth and nail is an interesting way to learn SAT vocabulary without having to read and memorize lists of words. However, if one read the book for entertainment purposes only, they would most likely become bored by the long descriptions and would probably find the plot to be predictable.
Rating:
Summary: TOOTH AND NAIL REVIEW
Review: Tooth and Nail, Charles Ester and Joseph Elliot. New York: Harcourt, 1994. 283. The book Tooth and Nail, written by Charles Ester and Joseph Elliot, is a mystery novel which is designed to enhance the reader's SAT vocabulary, with high level words written in bold print and included in a glossary in the back of the book. Tooth and Nail is a mystery set in fictitious Holyfield College where a benefactor who recently died (Edward Prospero) has willed the college library a collection of rare and priceless books. It follows three students, one of whom had interned for Prospero before his death, and a professor as they pursue the rarest of all the books through a literary puzzle that prospero left behind. The team also has to work against a mysterious attacker who the protagonists believe to be prospero's grandson Teddy. This mystery man is willing to go as far as to kill for the priceless book. Reading Tooth and Nail proves to be a much more interesting way to augment one's vocabulary than memorizing endless lists of words as done in the past. The book is written in third person and gives detailed descriptions of settings and characters, but does sometimes sound bombastic. It seems as though some of the descriptions were written only to use more vocabulary words. The book achieves its goal of teaching vocabulary to the reader, but does not have an extremely interesting plot. Overall, tooth and nail is an interesting way to learn SAT vocabulary without having to read and memorize lists of words. However, if one read the book for entertainment purposes only, they would most likely become bored by the long descriptions and would probably find the plot to be predictable.
Rating:
Summary: Learning words in context is the best approach
Review: 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:
Summary: Tantalizing book
Review: 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: 
Summary: Good for the clueless....
Review: 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:
Summary: Good for the clueless....
Review: 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:
Summary: OK, But not worth your studying time
Review: While I found the story in this book quite interesting, I do not think that it significantly improved my vocabulary. By using an "SAT Word" once in the book, I did not learn that word. The same words should have been repeated more than once, when possible. Perhaps, as another review suggested, the definitions should appear at the bottom of the page and not in the back - constantly flipping to the glossary was detrimental to my reading experience. I would not reccomend buying this book to learn vocabulary words, although I think the approach has some merit.
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