The most rhetorically grounded comprehensive handbook for composition, The St. Martin’s Handbook continues to do what it has always done: Present Andrea Lunsford’s substantial and timely research with student writers for student writers. The ninth edition reflects a nationwide survey of students and teachers related to how young people interact with others from different language and cultural backgrounds and with people with whom they disagree. New material on college expectations helps students think critically about barriers to and benefits of open and respectful dialogue and offers strategies for communicating outside of one’s comfort zone. Attention to gender and pronouns and to language varieties and identities supports students as they learn to write to include rather than to exclude. And throughout the ninth edition, which assumes students are writing traditional and multimodal projects in a mobile world, Andrea Lunsford asks students to see themselves as communicators in a global world. With new student writing, stronger coverage of argument, new material on defensive reading and fact-checking, more visual help with field research, the most up-to-date citation models, and a range of practice activities, The St. Martin’s Handbook helps a wide variety of college writers succeed.

What habits are common among good college writers? Good college writers are curious, engaged, reflective, and responsible. They read critically. They write with purpose. They tune into their audience. They collaborate and seek feedback. They know credible evidence makes them credible researchers. They revise. The Bedford Handbook, based on surveys with more than 1,000 first-year college students, fosters these habits and offers more support than ever before for college reading and writing. New writing guides support students as they compose in an ever-wider variety of genres, including multimodal genres. New reading support encourages students to become active readers. Retooled research advice emphasizes inquiry and helps writers cite even the trickiest digital sources confidently and responsibly. Best of all, the Handbook remains a trusted companion for students because it is accessible, comprehensive, and authoritative. Instructors benefit, too: A substantially revised Instructor’s Edition includes Nancy Sommers’s personal mentoring—more than 100 new concrete tips for teaching with the handbook. Finally, integrated digital content is easily assignable and helps students practice and apply the handbook’s lessons.

A comprehensive handbook that shows students how to reflect on the writing skills they already have and put them to use both in traditional academic work and in multimodal projects like blog posts, websites, and presentations. Integrated advice on U.S. academic genres and language follows best practices for helping students from both international and native-speaker backgrounds improve their understanding of academic English. Offers support for all students as they move from informal, social writing to effective academic writing and influential in the public sphere.