ACT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective ACT Strategies Ever Published

I'm a rising junior taking the ACT in July (hopefully!). (Sorry if this review is a bit long, it has just taken me a bit to find the right combo of materials) Materials I'm already using (used) : Princeton Review Premium Prep 19-20: 3 of 5 stars Literally a waste. The practice tests are FAR too easy. The strategies are standard. But its content teaching is bare minimum; it's good as a refresher on basic concepts. It does have a formula page which is really nice, but only if you know how to use the formulas efficiently (which the book doesn't cover). I only picked it over Barron's because it advertised 8 tests over the 5? that Barron's offered for half the price at my local B&N. Half those tests are online so not realistic at all. However, it was a nice introduction to the ACT and a real confidence booster. Its attempts to be colloquial and "hip" fall flat, but at least it's not intimidating to the average high schooler? Magoosh Online Prep: 4.5 of 5 stars Magoosh is great for learning content. It offers videos (which are really narrated PowerPoints) and practice questions. I like the videos, which let you take notes alongside them. Not a fan of the practice questions, but that's a personal preference since I mark up my tests a LOT which is hard to do on a laptop. They do offer a book, which, if I could go back in time, I would have gotten as it also offers 20 percent off the online prep. One thing I like about Magoosh is that it is really thorough and works under the impression that you are aiming for a high score. Red Book: 4 of 5 stars Practice tests made by ACT. To be used alongside the Black Book. I have the 20-21 edition which has all the tests that the Black Book 2nd edition walks through and a few (2?) more. Not much in terms of strategy and content learning. Try and find an elephant passage in the english section to know whether you are using the right book for the black book. Black Book: (by itself 4 of 5, with other materials 5 of 5) From my understanding, the book does not review content at all because the philosophy is that nothing more than basic knowledge is needed to succeed on the test. There's a walkthrough of the Red Book, but without making a separate purchase, the book doesn't provide anything in terms of "practice". It's meant to change the way you look at the test, from being overwhelmed to looking at it critically. It's been easy to understand and I really appreciate how it is inflexible. Other "strategies" usually come up with a rule but include a disclaimer, like use at your own discretion. It's extremely unhelpful to have to consider whether a certain "fool-proof" strategy applies while taking a test. I appreciate the Black Book's confidence in its strategies and it helps boost my own confidence during test. Hope this helps!

Genius! The Barrett brother knock it outa the park. If I could give this study guide 6 stars out of 5 possible, I would. If you buy only one guide for your high school student, this is the one! Note: Black Book strategies and tactics are pure gold. For practice tests however, buy the official most recent red book (for us that’s 25’-26’). Using these texts in concert is the magic formula. Beat that test!

I am an ACT and SAT tutor. I bought thousands of dollars of books at one point to figure out which ones are the most effective. This is one of my favorite books. Someone online told me they were told you should not buy this book without the Official Red Book. The test in this book are 16MC1, 16MC2, 16MC3. If you google those tests with the phrase PDF they are easily accessible. If you do not have a computer then this probably is not the best book for you unless you can print the tests. Also, the newer editions of the official red book have those tests, just not in the same order. Who is this book great for? I would say if you're below a 20 (skip to the next paragraph if you're above a 20), the book may be overwhelming but even reading through the fundamentals could significantly change your score. For math, I would stick to the early questions (1-30) but also browse questions 31-60 to see if there are any questions that are familiar. if you're below a 20. If you are scoring a 20 or below, the reading/writing/science sections are going to REALLY help you understand what the ACT is asking. You'll learn how to take the test from this book and I find my students at 20 or below are taking the test wrong. This book will teach you how to take the test. If you're above a 20 on the ACT. If you keep taking the test and getting the same score no matter what you do. If you feel stuck. This is a perfect book for you. I am trying to think of who does not benefit from this book and I cannot think of any student who has not received some benefit from this book. I also think it is great for tutors. It gives you a deeper awareness of the ACT. I became a better tutor after using this book. One of my favorite prep books for sure.

This book is by far the most comprehensive, extensive and strategic on the ACT that i am aware of. In working with my son on his ACT preparation, we have reviewed and used several books on the market, however this is the only book I know that literally walk you through 645 questions from the "Official ACT Prep Guide" (3 full ACT tests). The questions are addressed with specific strategy(ies) and in some cases with alternative solution. Anyone willing to put in the work (read/digest/implement/practice) is bound to see improvement. In my opinion, the first 63 pages alone are worth the price of the book and deserves ample attention and consideration. The following are some of the nuggets distilled in those pages: How well can I do on the ACT? The importance of scale How to train for the ACT - mastering the ideas in this book How to use the walk through - read/do/practice Recommended training progression - develop understanding of each section/recognize and understand your mistakes/ train to fix them Order of attack - Reading/Math/Science/English (This was an eye opener for me, and well recommended) Drills and exercise ( Patience it's a virtue, please do exercise it. you won't regret it. Prioritize quality over quantity). P.S. If you are a parent working with your child, I will recommend getting 2 copies so you and your child can do a deep dive discussion of the material. 2 heads, they say, is better than one.

I purchased this book and "The Official ACT Prep Guide 2020 - 2021, (Book + 5 Practice Tests + Bonus Online Content)" for my son to study for the ACT prior to starting his junior year in high school. This book was actually recommended to us by a family friend and we are glad that we bought it. We like it because it is more of a strategy type book rather than just a do practice problems over and over again kind of book. Don’t get me wrong, the practice problems are very important, which is the reason why we bought the “The Official ACT Prep Guide 2020 – 2021” book too. We had an older hand me down ACT prep guide book but when my son used the Black Book, the practice problems in the older guide didn’t match what the black book said to practice with so we ended up getting the newer prep guide book. We kind of wanted him to go into his first test without much studying to get a benchmark. He studied with the black book for maybe 3 total hours and picked up some good tips and strategies. I’m confident that with some dedicated study time, he will be able to easily boost his score on the next test.

I've been tutoring for the ACT for a while now and have seen a lot of prep books. This book is filled with many valuable tips that I've never seen in any other books. Some of it may be common sense for some, but it's articulated in really clear and concise ways. For others, they may never have considered the approach, e.g. using the "vertical scan" effectively for each of the four sections, or how to effectively search text. The book is useful for the general strategies, but what is most useful is the way it goes through literally EVERY question from the "Official ACT Prep Guide" with better explanations than are in the red book. It also provides tie backs to strategies already explained in the book, and step-by-step explanations of how you should tackle the question. This is most useful for diligent students who want to/can learn from her/his mistakes. (If every student could do this on their own, there'd be no use for tutors!) One thing to note is that the format/layout of the book could be better. The text is laid out very densely, without good cues for main and sub-ideas. That said, I still give it 5 stars because it's stellar in every other way.

I've tutored the ACT and SAT for over 5 years and to hundreds of students. About a year ago, I felt I had reached a plateau with the results I was getting as a tutor, so I started exploring test prep books to get a sense of other tutors' approaches. When I began reading The Black Book, I was immediately immersed by it because so much of it rang true with what I had observed myself about the ACT and SAT as a tutor. The Black Book is the only test prep book that I've read that really captures what these standardized tests are about from a design perspective. It also explains the most effective strategies that students can use on each section. Last but not least, it's written in a down-to-earth and intelligent way -- for a test-prep book, it's not bad to read ;) Reading both Black Books has really influenced how I teach the ACT and SAT, and I now recommend it to many of the students I work with. The Black Book does require some discipline to get through, but if you're a motivated student (or a tutor looking to improve your "game"), it's the best book out there.

It does not correlate with the current ACT red book 2025-2026. So I can not see how to will be useful since it doesnt give the full question stem. It is unfortunate because the explanations I see are pretty decent.

The book does NOT contain any practice tests. Instead it walks you through each question and tells you how to solve it (WITHOUT showing the question). It also describes a method of increasing your test score by understanding the way the test is put together. It suggests that by understanding how each version of the test is similarly constructed you can anticipate which questions will be asked and which answers will be correct. In other words, it teaches you how to do better on the test without being any smarter. In other words, it appears to teach you how to cheat. For the record, it's a 500+ page book. I hope you like reading a lot of words that don't seem to much matter at all. It's really wordy...and for no particularly good reason. I recommend this book to no one.

It's a very good book

Very useful preparatory tool for ACT

My son told me it was very helpful for his preparation.