Dr. Mel Levine » Jarvis Clutch - Social Spy

Jarvis Clutch - Social Spy
by Melvin D. Levine, M.D., F.A.A.P.
Grades 5–8

Social interactions are often the most stressful aspect of adolescent life. In Jarvis Clutch—Social Spy, Dr. Mel Levine teams up with fictitious eighth-grader Jarvis Clutch to offer insight and advice on the middle school social scene. Jarvis’s spy notes provide a bird’s eye view of the often traumatic social experiences that middle school students are bound to encounter. His wry perspective is alternated with commentary and wisdom from Dr. Levine, who provides an analysis of social situations from an expert’s perspective and shares the terminology that students need to understand what it is that makes social interactions so difficult.

The cornerstone of the book is the concept of social cognition, or your skills and ability in interacting with others. Through this lens of this concept, students examine the social challenges they face daily at school and at home. At the end of each chapter, discussion questions and “Jarvis Activities,” offer an opportunity to continue conversations on social interaction, and a glossary at the end of the books serves as a helpful reference to “tech talk” presented by Dr. Levine. Throughout, the text is peppered with diagrams and hip, modern illustrations to appeal to visual learners. The book concludes with a self-assessment questionnaire that gives students an outlet to evaluate their own social strengths and weaknesses and think about ways to refine their social skills. Guidelines for Use are available.