Cracking the AP Calculus 1998-99 Edition

This is really a first class presentation just like many of the other Cracking the AP series books. It explains the BC curriculum fully and has a good assortment of practice problems, yet you will want a textbook that has similar problems so you can really build up your speed and accuracy. The only problem I saw was that there was a relatively high percentage of erroneous results in the answer pages (compared with a typical Calculus text). If you use Maple, Derive, Mathematica or even a TI-92 you can verify those answers the book doesn't agree with you on. Other than that it is very effective.

I had no clue what was going on in my AP Calculus class, and I was about to take the AP exam, in a couple of months. So I decided to buy the Princeton Review book, because their SAT materials were pretty good, so I assumed that this book would be good too. It is, it's easy to understand, and really teaches you the basics of calculus. But that's the problem, it's too easy, when my teacher gave us practice exams, I had no clue what was going, even though I had prepped with this book. Perhaps something like Barron's would be a better choice because I heard that it offers more depth, so if you want to get like a 3, then go with this book, but if you want to shoot for something higher, go with a more demanding book.

The author, David Kahn does a superb job of explaining in clear, simple, casual manner many of the more difficult topics cover on the AP Calculus exams. He provides numerous step-by-step instructions of how to master many types of problems and also gives a lot of quick tips and tricks. He has obviously had much experience teaching this course. This book is amazingly easy, even fun, to read. There are numerous examples, practice problems and actual exam-type questions. I found this book organized and written in a way that makes it stand out from all other books of its type. I especially found it more readable and useful than the long-time favorite in its class - Baron's AP Calc. Review.