scala> parse("""["abc","def"]""") res73: org.json4s.JValue = JArray(List(JString(abc), JString(def)))

scala> parse("""["abc","def"]""").children res74: List[org.json4s.JsonAST.JValue] = List(JString(abc), JString(def))

scala> parse("""["abc","def"]""").children.map(x => compact(x)) res75: List[String] = List("abc", "def")