by Mignon Fogarty

St. Martin’s Griffin, $5.99, 120 pages

Grammar Girl has a goal – to improve your vocabulary one word at a time. Millions download her weekly podcast and read her bestselling books. Mignon Fogarty (aka Grammar Girl) has a new guidebook that will set any high school graduate up for success.  101 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know will help you impress professors and bosses, write killer papers, and hold your own in any conversation. Each entry is no more than two pages long which makes easy review possible for even the busiest student. Fun and fact filled definitions make learning interesting. When possible, Fogarty includes roots of words that help with memorization and strengthening vocabulary. With each word Fogarty features a quote by some pretty fascinating people – Steve Martin, J.D. Salinger, Helen Keller, Ben Affleck, Omar Epps, Andy Warhol, Homer and Marge Simpson, movie stars, politicians, artists, philosophers and more. Most words have clever illustrations that further help demonstrate the meaning and offer quirky ways to remember definitions. Fogarty represents every letter of the alphabet and spreads the words over multiple disciplines. Let the go-to gal of grammar help you with your vocabulary skills and you’ll be set for life.

Reviewed by Kathryn Franklin