Java JsonPath API found at jayway JsonPath might have changed a little since all the above answers/comments. Documentation too. Just follow the above link and read that README.md, it contains some very clear usage documentation IMO.

Basically, as of current latest version 2.2.0 of the library, there are a few different ways of achieving what's been requested here, such as:

Pattern:
--------
String json = "{...your JSON here...}";
String jsonPathExpression = "$...your jsonPath expression here..."; 
J requestedClass = JsonPath.parse(json).read(jsonPathExpression, YouRequestedClass.class);

Example:
--------
// For better readability:  {"store": { "books": [ {"author": "Stephen King", "title": "IT"}, {"author": "Agatha Christie", "title": "The ABC Murders"} ] } }
String json = "{\"store\": { \"books\": [ {\"author\": \"Stephen King\", \"title\": \"IT\"}, {\"author\": \"Agatha Christie\", \"title\": \"The ABC Murders\"} ] } }";
String jsonPathExpression = "$.store.books[?(@.title=='IT')]"; 
JsonNode jsonNode = JsonPath.parse(json).read(jsonPathExpression, JsonNode.class);

And for reference, calling 'JsonPath.parse(..)' will return an object of class 'JsonContent' implementing some interfaces such as 'ReadContext', which contains several different 'read(..)' operations, such as the one demonstrated above:

/**
 * Reads the given path from this context
 *
 * @param path path to apply
 * @param type    expected return type (will try to map)
 * @param <T>
 * @return result
 */
<T> T read(JsonPath path, Class<T> type);

Hope this help anyone.