conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me a description for a book titled A Clatter of Jars about Camp, Talent, Atropos with the genre: Children's Books, Growing Up & Facts of Life.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Gr 47When Liliana Vera arrives at Camp Atropos for Singular Talents, she does so with a heavy heart. Her brother Max should be with her, but three weeks before, she accidentally hurt him. No one knows it was her fault. Now Liliana is stuck dealing with the guilt, her secret about what really happened, and her annoyingly perky stepsister, Hannah. Camp Atropos is for kids with "Talents," abilities that are beyond what a human can normally accomplish. Lily can lift objects with her mind. Hannah makes drinks that evoke memories for people and bring them back to a moment clear as day. Not everyone has a Talent, though, and for many of the Fair, having a Talent is a lifelong dream. There is a black market of sorts, and the director of Camp Atropos is in over her head with dealing and stealing Talent rip-offs. If she's not careful, she may endanger her campers and change the Talented world forever. Readers may remember other Talented characters from A Tangle of Knots, but it's not necessary to have read it to keep up here. Camp director Jo is a complex and sympathetic villain, making an original story even more unique. The tale comes full circle sweetly, with a fun twist that connects lives from both books in an unexpected way. There is, perhaps, an overabundance of characters, each with his or her own special Talent, and a few too many plot lines, making the story a little hard to follow at times. Still, most readers who enjoy magical fantasy set in an otherwise realistic world will likely embrace these new characters. VERDICT the author is a master of the magical realism genre, and this offering is worthy of a spot in any middle grade collection.Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Gr 47When Liliana Vera arrives at Camp Atropos for Singular Talents, she does so with a heavy heart. Her brother Max should be with her, but three weeks before, she accidentally hurt him. No one knows it was her fault. Now Liliana is stuck dealing with the guilt, her secret about what really happened, and her annoyingly perky stepsister, Hannah. Camp Atropos is for kids with "Talents," abilities that are beyond what a human can normally accomplish. Lily can lift objects with her mind. Hannah makes drinks that evoke memories for people and bring them back to a moment clear as day. Not everyone has a Talent, though, and for many of the Fair, having a Talent is a lifelong dream. There is a black market of sorts, and the director of Camp Atropos is in over her head with dealing and stealing Talent rip-offs. If she's not careful, she may endanger her campers and change the Talented world forever. Readers may remember other Talented characters from A Tangle of Knots, but it's not necessary to have read it to keep up here. Camp director Jo is a complex and sympathetic villain, making an original story even more unique. The tale comes full circle sweetly, with a fun twist that connects lives from both books in an unexpected way. There is, perhaps, an overabundance of characters, each with his or her own special Talent, and a few too many plot lines, making the story a little hard to follow at times. Still, most readers who enjoy magical fantasy set in an otherwise realistic world will likely embrace these new characters. VERDICT the author is a master of the magical realism genre, and this offering is worthy of a spot in any middle grade collection.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the first four paragraphs for this book.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A Clatter of Jars
  ON THE DARK WATERS OF LAKE ATROPOS, JUST OUTSIDE of Poughkeepsie, New York, there bobbed a single sailboat. At the boat's bow stood a black-haired pixie of a girl. Cadence, her name was. She and her parents were celebrating the one-year anniversary of her adoption.
  The sky was offering a dazzling farewell to the sun—a fiery orange nearest the water, edging into watermelon pink farther up, then, at its height, a deep blackberry—and lily pads dotted the shore. Cady stared at the painted sky, passing an object between her hands.
  Toby was Cady's father—had always been her father, although they'd only recently discovered each other. Cady fit with Toby as though he were the matching left mitten to her right. Cady had known her mother, Jennifer, much longer, although they'd only recently become family. Cady fit with Jennifer as though she were the right mitten to Cady's left.
  Somehow, though, Toby and Jennifer did not match each other, not in the slightest. Whether it was their stitching, or the dye of their yarn, Cady's parents did not make a pair. Toby didn't seem to mind so much, being unmatched. But Jennifer...
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me five more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Taking two steps toward Jo's office and the hundreds of jars locked inside, Lily focused her thoughts at the bridge of her nose. Slowly, through the door, she lifted every last jar—one inch, then two—off the shelf.
  Renny knocked and knocked on Jo's office door, but no one answered. Miles watched the kids from Cabin Thirty-Three, who were rehearsing on the stage at the far end of the lodge. A girl named Molly was telling time perfectly, down to the second, without glancing at a clock.
  Renny squared his shoulders as he turned, pretending that Jo didn't scare him in the slightest. "I know you're looking for the Recollector Talent," he told her. Sometimes the best approach was an honest one. "And I know where you can find it."
  Jo scratched a spot below one ear. She looked as though she were trying to fit a piece into a puzzle that she hadn't realized she was missing. When at last the puzzle piece seemed to snap into place, Jo pulled her harmonica from her sweater pocket and lifted it to her lips.
  The way Jo smiled at Miles, you'd think he was a particularly tasty-looking tuna she'd spied in a fish shop. "Not a soul," she assured him.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Swap the first and the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: "Not a soul," she assured him. Slowly, through the door, she lifted every last jar—one inch, then two—off the shelf.
  Renny knocked and knocked on Jo's office door, but no one answered. Miles watched the kids from Cabin Thirty-Three, who were rehearsing on the stage at the far end of the lodge. A girl named Molly was telling time perfectly, down to the second, without glancing at a clock.
  Renny squared his shoulders as he turned, pretending that Jo didn't scare him in the slightest. "I know you're looking for the Recollector Talent," he told her. Sometimes the best approach was an honest one. "And I know where you can find it."
  Jo scratched a spot below one ear. She looked as though she were trying to fit a piece into a puzzle that she hadn't realized she was missing. When at last the puzzle piece seemed to snap into place, Jo pulled her harmonica from her sweater pocket and lifted it to her lips.
  The way Jo smiled at Miles, you'd think he was a particularly tasty-looking tuna she'd spied in a fish shop.Taking two steps toward Jo's office and the hundreds of jars locked inside, Lily focused her thoughts at the bridge of her nose.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the last five paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Cady examined the drink's layers—fiery orange nearest the bottom, edging into watermelon pink farther up, then, at its height, a deep blackberry. A mint leaf, like a lily pad, floated on top. She took a sip. The punch brought to mind Cady's best memories of summer—baking cakes on a breezy afternoon with her mother in the kitchen, humming beside her.
  Cady turned to discover two boys, one tall and broad, the other a bit skinnier, both with auburn hair and pasty white knees.
  Max was busy handing out cups. "But you can't put memories in peanut butter bars." He took a sip of punch, and by the time he'd swallowed, Cady could tell that he was thinking the exact thought she was. "Could you?"
  Cady's eyes landed on the two girls climbing to the stage for the first act of the evening—two girls Cady had met so many years ago, when they were toddlers at her mother's orphanage. Chuck and Ellie. The Frog Twins, they liked to call themselves.
  As the sisters tapped their microphones and the audience settled into an excited silence, Cady rolled an idea over in her mind. "Perhaps," she said—and the more she thought on it, the more delicious the idea seemed—"perhaps you might Coax the memories inside?"
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Cady examined the drink's layers—fiery orange nearest the bottom, edging into watermelon pink farther up, then, at its height, a deep blackberry. A mint leaf, like a lily pad, floated on top. She took a sip. The punch brought to mind Cady's best memories of summer—baking cakes on a breezy afternoon with her mother in the kitchen, humming beside her.
  Cady turned to discover two boys, one tall and broad, the other a bit skinnier, both with auburn hair and pasty white knees.
  Max was busy handing out cups. "But you can't put memories in peanut butter bars." He took a sip of punch, and by the time he'd swallowed, Cady could tell that he was thinking the exact thought she was. "Could you?"
  Cady's eyes landed on the two girls climbing to the stage for the first act of the evening—two girls Cady had met so many years ago, when they were toddlers at her mother's orphanage. Chuck and Ellie. The Frog Twins, they liked to call themselves.
  As the sisters tapped their microphones and the audience settled into an excited silence, Cady rolled an idea over in her mind.