conversations.from: human
conversations.value: a description for a book titled The Further Adventures of Jack Lime about Jack, Lime, Library with the genre: Teen & Young Adult, Literature & Fiction
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Gr 7-10-In this follow-up to The Adventures of Jack Lime (Kids Can, 2010), the hard-boiled high schooler has three new cases to solve. He follows the suspicious dealings of a popular football player only to uncover a gang's connections to a dodgeball gambling ring. Then he tracks down a stolen painting, nearly getting himself expelled in the process. Finally, a case involving a valuable comic book leads Jack to uncover a criminal mastermind who's been playing him all along. The novel ends on a cliff-hanger. For an amateur detective who claims to want out of the business, Jack sure gets a lot of requests for help. Unfortunately, he is no Veronica Mars. Although he has guts, he barely manages to solve a case unscathed as he runs from thugs, his grandma, and Principal Snit. Still, the premise and brevity of the novel might appeal to younger teens, especially those who love mysteries. Hokey lines like, "I'm going to be on you like a wet sweater on a gorilla" might be a little off-putting (not to mention, unfunny) for the intended audience, but Jack Lime doesn't take himself too seriously, and neither will readers.-Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, Rockaway Township Public Library, NJ(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Gr 7-10-In this follow-up to The Adventures of Jack Lime (Kids Can, 2010), the hard-boiled high schooler has three new cases to solve. He follows the suspicious dealings of a popular football player only to uncover a gang's connections to a dodgeball gambling ring. Then he tracks down a stolen painting, nearly getting himself expelled in the process. Finally, a case involving a valuable comic book leads Jack to uncover a criminal mastermind who's been playing him all along. The novel ends on a cliff-hanger. For an amateur detective who claims to want out of the business, Jack sure gets a lot of requests for help. Unfortunately, he is no Veronica Mars. Although he has guts, he barely manages to solve a case unscathed as he runs from thugs, his grandma, and Principal Snit. Still, the premise and brevity of the novel might appeal to younger teens, especially those who love mysteries. Hokey lines like, "I'm going to be on you like a wet sweater on a gorilla" might be a little off-putting (not to mention, unfunny) for the intended audience, but Jack Lime doesn't take himself too seriously, and neither will readers.-Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, Rockaway Township Public Library, NJ(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: the first five paragraphs for this book
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Further Adventures of Jack Lime
  I rooted through a thousand candy wrappers and potato chip bags before I found four rectangular strips that had once belonged to her large glossy photo.
  I sat down and started examining each of the strips. I'd been so focused on the perp's leg and the arm beside the light switches that I hadn't really looked at the faces in the crowd.
  I grabbed her, hugged her, kissed her on both cheeks and left. I didn't stick around for the swooning, although I'm sure she felt pretty special after all that attention from yours truly.
  The Kutcher residence looked the same as always, a perfect slice of suburban blandness. Even at the end of October, the lawn was still perfect, the garden was still tidy and the picket fence was still very white. I strolled down the walk and knocked on the front door. I heard the pitter-patter of feet thumping toward the door and hoped they belonged to Ronny. Unfortunately, when the door opened, I found out they belonged to his older sister, Sandra.
  Most of the year nobody comes down our empty dead-end street, but on Halloween they can't stop. It's like a rite of passage for every elementary kid in town to wander down the lane in the dark and knock on our front door. There are rumors that my grandmother's a witch, and all those scared little saps are usually about ready to leap out of their costumes by the time they ring our doorbell. I spent the evening sitting on the front porch, giving out handfuls of candy to frightened kids and waiting for Max to show up.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: five more paragraphs
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: It was looking pretty grim when Lance Munroe burst through the crowd with his fists up. "You're going to have to go through me first!" he said. Lance might be a pretty boy, but being the school's star quarterback commands respect, so Billy and his friends started to back off.
  And then, right on cue, Mr. Snit's voice came over the PA. "Would Jack Lime please report to the office. That's Jack Lime, to the office. Immediately."
  I'd be darned if I was going to run away now. This was just Cain playing his dirty version of hardball. Well, I could handle dirty. I could handle dirty just fine.
  I was expecting to see an amateur-looking conspiracy video made by Cain and his merry band of fiendish friends. Instead I was looking at Tyler Butt and me facing off on the school's front lawn. We were frozen in time for a second, and then Snit must've pressed Play because I heard myself say, "If you just give me a second to explain." That's when Tyler sprang at me like a hungry tiger at a sheep farm. I watched myself try to step out of the way, but not quickly enough, and I couldn't help gingerly touching my nose when Tyler hit me in the video. Then I was blocking Butt's punches, and doing a pretty good job of it, when Snit pressed Pause.
  I only got accosted about a half dozen times that morning by angry clods who had watched Cain's video and bought his outrageous lies hook, line and sinker. But that didn't faze me. I had bigger fish to fry and a plan that needed to be put into action. So at lunch I strolled over to Iona Middle School. The way I figured it, Ronny Kutcher was the weak link in all of this, and I wanted to see what I could wring out of him.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: the last four paragraphs
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: We sat there and watched the whole give-and-take between me and Ronny play out. I have to admit, I enjoyed watching Snurt's face go from confident to confused when Ronny started chirping about how he and his friend had stolen Tyler's comic. By the time she came striding onto the screen to confront me, her face had gone from confused to just old-fashioned angry.
  When I strolled into the main office, I told Ronny that Snurt wanted to have a little chat. Ronny got white in the face and weak in the knees. I think I even heard his teeth chattering as he walked by.
  The caller laughed. "Jake Clim? Does anybody know a Jake Clim? Jeesh, Jack, sometimes you make me wonder."
  Hang nails and out-of-control nose hairs? Who'd said that to me? Someone who got close to the Van Kramps. Someone who had parents that work for Luxemcorp. Someone who could say they were on official school business. Someone who'd been listening to me talk for a long time. Someone who sent Betty my way.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the first sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: I have to admit, I enjoyed watching Snurt's face go from confident to confused when Ronny started chirping about how he and his friend had stolen Tyler's comic. By the time she came striding onto the screen to confront me, her face had gone from confused to just old-fashioned angry.
  When I strolled into the main office, I told Ronny that Snurt wanted to have a little chat. Ronny got white in the face and weak in the knees. I think I even heard his teeth chattering as he walked by.
  The caller laughed. "Jake Clim? Does anybody know a Jake Clim? Jeesh, Jack, sometimes you make me wonder."
  Hang nails and out-of-control nose hairs? Who'd said that to me? Someone who got close to the Van Kramps. Someone who had parents that work for Luxemcorp. Someone who could say they were on official school business. Someone who'd been listening to me talk for a long time. Someone who sent Betty my way.