Tania Smith’s volume, Undergraduate Curricular Peer Mentoring Programs, situates the heretofore practice-oriented peer instruction literature within a well-researched theoretical framework. It will be a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners.

Judy Miller, University of North Florida

This book presents a sweeping, coherent overview of the many types of curricular peer mentoring practices, both institutionalized programs and unique, unaffiliated efforts, that have demonstrated their potential to improve student learning outcomes within standard post-secondary curricula. The authors commendably avoid selecting a best model in favor of emphasizing that the concept’s underlying principles and guidelines permit great flexibility when applied to different disciplines, course structures, and types of participants. The authors also deal effectively with the proliferation of definitions, labels, and education jargon that can confuse and intimidate an outsider looking just for a few good ideas to get started with peer mentoring. In particular, their decision to intersperse descriptions of specific programs with succinct summaries of education research is a nice touch. The last chapter can be used as a very practical "how to" guide for educators setting up the framework of a new peer mentoring program or reviewing the operation of an existing one. In summary, in may ways this book is the educational equivalent to Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking: comprehensive, authoritative, a rich resource to be kept within arm’s reach by educators who want to enhance learning outcomes with the best ingredients available – students themselves.

Hal A. Larson, University of Arizona