I remembered having this book in High School. Even then I recognized it's value in helping to build a large vocabulary. None of the other vocbulary books even come close. Words are grouped by type, such as words related to "sobriety". Words are also split into groups with either Latin or Greek roots. No other book does this.
I have searched in vain for a resource to buy this book for my own children until finally ordering it from Amazon. Buy this book for your High School student BEFORE he or she takes the SAT. Thanks Amazon.com for being such a great source of hard-to-find books!

As a student studying this book, the advanced vocabulary within it contains valuable information in order to succeed on achievement tests, essays, and even daily spoken language. I proudly say that this book has changed how I think, read, and feel these words. The format of this book is very laudable (I got that from the book!). Hopefully others will increase there vocabulary for the sake of knowledge and understading.

In searching for a vocabulary workbook to help my son studying for SSAT test, I stumbled into a very old edition of this book at a second-handed book store. I immediately recognized the value of this book. As you can see, English is not my mother tongue language, so studying English for me is a science. I like the way the book builds up blocks of knowledge and goes up from there. I studied it along with my son for six weeks, his SSAT test score jumped from 20 to 70 percentile. We still have a way to go, but I am happy that I found the right tool for our goal. I am looking forward to have my son taking SAT test. I know he will do well, and my English will improve at the same time. Double pleasure! Thank you Mr. Levine.

Although I have entitled this review "essential reading for all Canadians", individuals of any nationality will enjoy this book. The book was written in 1958 and is Canada's equivalent to Kerouac's "On The Road". (Due to contraversy surrounding the book, it wasn't published in Canada until the late 70's)

The book, autobiographical in nature, details Levine's return to Canada after years spent living in England. He boards a boat in England and lands in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He slowly makes his way accross the country describing his stops in Ontario, Quebec and the West. The accounts of his voyages are vivid and nostalgic. Levine's bitterness toward his native country is nothing more than brutal honesty. From Montreal's society to Ontario's small mining towns, Levine's most intriguing descriptions are of the people he meets along the way.

There is no better hook in the book than the line, "I wondered why I felt so bitter about Canada. After all, it was all part of a dream, an experiment that could not come off. It was foolish to believe that you could take the throwouts, the rejects, the human kickabouts from Europe and tell them: Here you have a second chance. Here you can start a new life. But no one ever mentioned the price one had to pay; how much of oneself you had to betray."

If you are not Canadian, don't worry there aren't any Canuck inside jokes that you won't get. After all, I haven't been to most of the places described by Kerouac, but love his books nonetheless.

This book explains that students do indeed have rights while at school. In order to assert your rights, you must know them. It has some good info on topics like school newspapers, searches and seizures, rights to free speech and many other areas. School is a battle ground for your rights and this is your weapon. A must have for the rebellious student.

This book taught me many new words that are valuable for everyday conversation. It is divided into different categories such as: number words, medical words, words from other languages, figurative expressions, etc. The authors give a definition and a sentence for each new word. They give exercises to help you master the words. The book also tells the history of some words which is often a good way to remember the word. However, sometimes these can get boring since they are all basically the same. I used this book to study for spelling bees, and I recommend it to students and adults alike. You will learn from this book.

I bought this book some time ago and just recently started to use it and I am very impressed. It has the same things as the others: word families, roots, stories, and exercises. However, the "thinking with your new words" section is genius! It's the best exercise I've seen which aids one's "recall." Having to take a description or phrase and narrow it down to a specific word instead of vice versa (determining a single word's meaning from the surrounding context) is the best way to add and retain/recall words to one's SPEAKING vocabulary (we all have one in addition to reading and writing). It's this part of our vocabulary which is the sorely lacking. I wish the authors would do a newer and bigger book with more words and with only this type of exercise (by the way, how could I get in touch with them to offer this suggestion?). We'd all be (like the Victorians who raised the art of conversation to unparalleled heights) a lot more eloquent!

I am a special education teacher who spends much of my time searching for ways to present material in a way which excites my kids. This book focuses on learning vocabulary using interesting stories. The stories are simple to read and all of the words are included in the context of the story. Exercises follow each story to help reinforce student learning of the vocabulary terms. I was very pleased with the results I obtained through the use of this book and I think it is an excellent approach to presenting new vocabulary to lower level students.

vraisemblance takes a beating when jake lassiter resorts to show tunes & psychological tap-dancing to stave off certain death at the hand of an uzi bearing reincarnated hawaiian god.not levine's best, though still entertaining. average.

The average middle or high school student knows 90 % of the word in Courses II and III. For maximum effectiveness, it should be as a way to have 5th graders build a vocabulary base for their middle and high school years.