Well, SAT and ACT test prep is about to get a lot more interesting: Tokyopop is teaming up with the Kaplan folks to publish “vocabulary-building manga.” They are taking regular manga—the first three titles are the first volumes of Psy-Comm, Warcraft, and Van Von Hunter—and highlighting the vocabulary words, adding definitions, and adding an index. And although the PR says “small, easy-to-carry trim size for backpacks,” the books will be 6×9, a little bigger than the standard 5×7 1/2 manga volume. (I’m guessing the Kaplan people wrote that bit; 6×9 is probably small to them. Interestingly, and probably not coincidentally, all three are global titles.
Having tutored a very visually oriented, manga-reading high school student who was preparing for the SAT, all I can say is, I wish these had been on the market a year ago. There are other vocab guides that use cartoons, but the ones I have seen are lame. Since these are written as manga, not vocabulary books, they have to be better.
KAPLAN PUBLISHING and TOKYOPOP INTRODUCE THE VOCABULARY-BUILDING MANGA SERIES
Book Expo America, New York (May 31, 2007)— There are many students who struggle with the demands of reading and vocabulary lists to prepare for the SAT and ACT exams. However, find something that they actually enjoy reading, and watch them “stand and deliver.” Kaplan has joined forces with TOKYOPOP to bring these students a unique and engaging way to study vocabulary with the Manga Series.
As seen with the success of Kaplan’s Frankenstein and other Score-Raising Classics, The Ring of McAllister, and the other original SAT Vocabulary novels, students are eager for engaging alternatives to lengthy word lists. Kaplan’s unparalleled experience preparing students for the SAT and ACT for more than 60 years has enabled us to identify the most important and frequently seen vocabulary words that show up on the exams. Reading, combined with other test preparation, helps students achieve a better score on the critical reading portion of the exams.
Maureen McMahon, Vice President and Publisher at Kaplan Publishing, says: “Students have come to expect results from Kaplan’s test-taking strategies. Now we are going to encourage them to have fun too during the stressful time of SAT and ACT preparation. We are thrilled to partner with TOKYOPOP to offer students an entertaining and effective way to achieve their goals.”
This series is the newest trend in teen reading and the fastest growing segment in the publishing industry. Appealing to teens interested in a good read filled with exciting plots, the manga platform represents a fun method of vocabulary review, allowing the reader to decipher the context of the word not only from the surrounding text on the page and the definitions in the margins, but also from the graphic element of the story.
Rob Tokar, Editor-in-Chief at TOKYOPOP remembers: “When I was in seventh grade, I was shocked to discover that I could actually learn something useful from my favorite comic book. I’ve never forgotten that experience, and that’s why I couldn’t be more excited by this project. Though most adults tend to think comics only contain words like POW, BAM, and ZAP, TOKYOPOP is proud to publish a wide variety of material for a wide range of audiences. All of these books already contained words that are on Kaplan’s list, and the rest of the words fit the stories very well.”
Features of each book are:
· The complete graphic novel adventures – not abridged versions
· More than 300 vocabulary words frequently tested on the SAT highlighted throughout the text
· Definitions for each word highlighted on the same page
· A word-pronunciation guide
· An index for easy reference
· Small, easy-to-carry trim size for backpacks
The initial titles in the Kaplan SAT/ACT vocabulary-building Manga series are:
* PSY-COMM, VOLUME 1: 978-1-4277-5496-7
* WARCRAFT, VOLUME 1: 978-1-4277-5495-0
* VAN VON HUNTER, VOLUME 1: 978-1-4277-5494-3
$9.99 each, paperback, 6×9, 216 pages.
More titles will be introduced in the near future.
Kaplan Publishing is one of the nation’s leading publishers of academic and professional development resources. We produce more than 150 new titles annually, on topics such as general business, real estate, finance and investing, test preparation, college and graduate school admissions, academic and professional development. Kaplan Publishing is the number one provider of test prep materials for a variety of standard tests, including GRE, GMAT, LSAT, SAT, MCAT, TOEFL, and more.
Kaplan Publishing is a unit of Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO). The name Kaplan was once associated exclusively with test preparation. Today, Kaplan retains its leadership position in test prep but is equally recognized as a leader in online education, academic tutoring, solutions for schools, and English language learning. Our mission is to help individuals achieve their educational and career goals. We build futures one success story at a time.
TOKYOPOP is hailed as an artistic vision that transcends countless platforms. From the introduction of the first-ever extensive manga publishing program in North America, to the development of its manga-originated intellectual properties into film, television and digital entertainment leading youth-oriented entertainment brand and an innovator of manga creation, with a revolutionary, TOKYOPOP has changed the way teens experience pop culture. The company’s global reach has expanded to Europe and Asia, with recent offices opening in the UK and Germany and partnerships in Australia and China, in addition to its original Los Angeles and Tokyo operations. With millions of fans logging onto the new social networking site www.TOKYOPOP.com, reading its books, and watching its DVDs and television programs, TOKYOPOP’s award-winning catalogue of licensed and original properties has made the company a visionary in an ever-growing teen entertainment marketplace. Visit www.TOKYOPOP.com for additional information.
SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board, which neither sponsors nor endorses this product
ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., which neither sponsors nor endorses this product
This sounds like a fabulous idea and all for younger readers, but for the SAT and ACT? With the original text unaltered in the manga? I don’t see how this is going to beef up vocabulary for 11th graders- last I checked, Van Von Hunter wasn’t exactly throwing around sentences that seemed like the appropriate context for everything from “anthropomorphic” to “zealot.”
Kaplan actually edited the scripts to include more juicy vocab.
I haven’t read the other two, since they’re not my series, but VVH is already fairly wordy, so it actually worked surprisingly well. A few jokes were lost, but hopefully much educational value was added. We shall see.
This seems interesting, but is probably worthless, like I have found with many Kaplan products. I have learned to NEVER trust what Kaplan advertises. Check out this scandal. On Kaplan’s website it says that the price of their SAT course is almost universally $1099.
But a friend of mine in NJ told me that if you go to the school where Kaplan is offering the course, then they will give you the course for $600-650!!
And don’t take NO for an answer. Kaplan will tell you that the reason for the discount is a partnership with those schools. I know for a fact that this is a lie. I talked personally with three administrators who said that they had ABSOLUTELY NO partnership with Kaplan and were not subsidizing the cost!
After much haggling, they gave my kid the discount. So call them, be relentless, talk to a manager if you have to, and get the discount for your kid!