For any of our students requiring improvement in English, Writing Skills, or essay writing, we assign a small portion of William Strunk’s classic Elements of Style. Between middle school and high school, many students we work with have received inadequate or cursory instruction in grammar and usage. Elements is a bit dry for most people’s tastes, but it’s the most efficient book we know of to cover the essentials, and particularly well-suited to the ACT English and SAT Writing and Language sections.

For students who need additional practice in and reinforcement of grammar, usage, and syntax, there’s no better workbook than The Complete Guide to ACT English.

And for students who need additional practice in and reinforcement of math content, there’s no better workbook than Ultimate Guide to the Math ACT.

A preferred dictionary among designers of standardized tests—and an excellent lexicon on its own merit—The New Oxford American Dictionary is the dictionary of choice for only a test LLC.

Excerpts from the works of neurologist Oliver Sacks have appeared on numerous reading passages, including some from the ACT. Sacks’ writings on mental disorders are candid, yet compassionate; brilliant yet accessible.