A Clatter of Jars by Lisa Graff

They're going to camp.  It's a special camp for those that have talents.  Each of them has a secret talent, a skill that enhances them in some way.  And someone at camp wants to steal them...

Philomel Books and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published May 24th.

I enjoy reading stories about magic so this one caught my eye.  Ms. Graff has approached the idea of magic with a totally different approach.  Magic is common but not everyone has it.  Those that do are proud of it and use it to help with their own lives.  At the end of this special camp they do a talent show and demonstrate the powers they have and do their best to win the main prize.  No one thinks anything about it.  But the camp leader has a racket going...

She puts bottles in the lake and they come back to shore with a talent inside.  It's a mimic and only lasts about a year.  She gets good money from it.  She also on the lookout for a particular talent so she can make her sister forget about a bad thing and like her again.

When one of the campers finds out what she's doing, she attempts to stop her by putting her own talent in the old harmonica the lady plays.  That backfires, though, and her little brother is mad at her.  She's afraid she's ruined everything but with the help of other campers they get things back to normal.  At least as normal as it is in this story.

I enjoyed the different approach and children characters.  They were brave and they didn't give up.  More people need to be like that.  Oh, and don't forget the frogs are important because they are.