Brad and I recently had the opportunity to review a new SAT prep book. Let’s be honest. No one likes to study for the SAT, much less read 1000+ pages of material. Christian Heath, author of the newly released SAT Math Mastery Ed. 2 Volume 1 and 2, will change your mind. In these books, Heath includes clear and thorough answer explanations that teach students how to understand and solve a variety of math topics on the SAT. His explanations are honest and unexpectedly funny, with real life connections thrown in to make the book especially relevant.

Heath starts each book with a breakdown of topics by importance for both the no-calculator and calculator section. This breakdown lists the likelihood that a certain topic will appear on the test. If a student’s study time is limited, this list provides a perfect screenshot of where to start and focus preparation. In addition, each section contains a quick reference guide for the topic being discussed. This includes the incorporation of clear definitions to remind readers about math terms they may have forgotten over the years. There is even an entire section that discusses common mistakes students make and how to prevent making them on test day.

The thing that truly sets this book a part is that Heath wrote all of the questions himself, including both pre and post tests. He has modeled both multiple choice and free response questions after real SAT questions, which makes this the perfect supplemental text for real tests.

The positive vibe of this book is contagious, as evidenced through Heath’s “Review and Encouragement” sections. It’s incredibly important for students to build and sustain confidence in themselves and these books do just that. Our biggest takeaway is that this book feels much more approachable than other SAT books we have used. As someone who has tutored the SAT for the past five years, we found new and helpful hints that we will use with students moving forward. Studying for the SAT isn’t always fun, but this book makes it leaps and bounds more bearable.

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