Join this year’s winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Dan Santat, as he inspires tweens and teens to tell their own stories through graphic novels. His winning book, A First Time for Everything, is a graphic memoir based on his own awkward middle school years and the trip to Europe that changed his life.

Dan Santat began drawing as a young boy and although he first studied microbiology, he pursued his passion in illustration. He spent many hours as a child and teenager teaching himself to draw by copying illustrations from comic books until he developed the unique, recognizable style that we see today. His talk will inspire listeners to draw their own story as well as give them practical tips on the creation of graphic novels.

Join the conversation and register at https://libraryc.org/santacruzpl/51656.

For upcoming author talks, visit https://libraryc.org/santacruzpl/upcoming.

About the Author

Dan Santat is a Caldecott Medal winner, a National Book Award winner, and a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator. His artwork is also featured in numerous picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade novels. Santat created the animated television show, "The Replacements," as well. He lives in Southern California with his wife and two children.

SCPL's Virtual Author Talks are made possible by the Friends of the Capitola Library.

You’re invited to virtually step inside one of the greatest international achievements with a behind-the-scenes guide to space exploration with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum curator Dr. Jennifer Levasseur.

Revealing a new perspective into the world of space exploration and the daring astronauts who make it possible, Dr. Levasseur will guide you through the Smithsonian’s Behind the Scenes at the Space Station and take you on a once-in-a-lifetime virtual tour of the International Space Station. 

Register now for your all-access pass to a spectacular home in space!

About the Author: Dr. Jennifer Levasseur is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan (BA, 1999). She received an MA from George Washington University (2002) and a PhD from George Mason University (2014). Her first book, published in 2020, examined the cultural significance of astronaut photography. She is the responsible curator for the Museum's astronaut cameras, chronographs, the Space Shuttle, and International Space Station programs. In 22 years at NASM, Jennifer has worked on artifact loans, a biennial museums conference, and numerous digital projects. She curated the 2015 exhibit Outside the Spacecraft: 50 Years of Extra-Vehicular Activity, co-curated One World Connected, and is lead curator for the forthcoming At Home in Space gallery.

 Jennifer started her Smithsonian career with an internship in the National Portrait Gallery, where she cataloged photographs and developed strategies for recording portrait information in the museum's artifact database.

Join the conversation and register at https://libraryc.org/santacruzpl/52531.

For upcoming author talks, visit https://libraryc.org/santacruzpl/upcoming.

SCPL's Virtual Author Talks are made possible by the Friends of the Capitola Library.

Award-winning author, Clifford Mae Henderson, is delighted to appear at her neighborhood library, Garfield Park. "We are so lucky to have this little gem on the Westside,” she says. Author of six novels, several of which feature Santa Cruz, she considers libraries to be sacred ground. She has been a proud Santa Cruz resident of Santa Cruz since 1979. When not hammering away at a novel, she, along with her wife, runs the Fun Institute, an improv school for grownups, because grownups need to play too. 

Zeddi's cursed with bad luck. A housing shortage in the Bay Area’s Tres Ojos has left her and her nine-year-old daughter, Olive, living in a van. Working as a housekeeper, trying to save money, Zeddi worries about Olive’s welfare. When she finds her friend and housekeeping client, Mags, dead—and something about her death doesn’t sit right—she faces her biggest worry of all.

Mags’ longtime lover, Ida, confirms her suspicions of foul play, revealing that Mags served as high priestess to a dwindling coven of old witches—who are positive that Mags was murdered. Zeddi owes it to Mags and Ida to uncover the truth, but the more she digs, the more she fears that Mags’ love for Olive may have unintentionally made Olive the killer’s next target.

Explore the fascination of bees while celebrating the 30 year anniversary of The Beekeeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R. King. Apiarist Emily Bondor, a full-time beekeeper and educator, will share her knowledge of bees while Laurie shares how they continue to inspire.

NOTE: Live Bees will be at the event, contained in an observation hive.

Registration is recommended. Register Below.

Laurie R. King’s best-selling novels include the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories, from The Beekeeper’s Apprentice to The Lantern’s Dance. She has won an alphabet of prizes from Agatha to Wolfe, is a Baker Street Irregular and a Mystery Writers of America's 2022 Grand Master, and has lived in Santa Cruz most of her life.

Emily Bondor is a full-time beekeeper and educator. She founded Santa Cruz Bee Company in 2015. Emily has served as the president of the Santa Cruz Beekeepers Guild and is still on their board. Recently Emily joined ABBA, the Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance, a collaboration of a dozen beekeepers and researchers under the direction of Melanie Kirby.

We invite you to join us as we chat with the amazing New York Times bestselling author Shelby Van Pelt about her beloved novel Remarkably Bright Creatures. You don’t want to miss this deep-dive exploration of friendship, reckoning, hope, and so much more!

Remarkably Bright Creatures is a luminous debut novel about a widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium—and the truths she finally uncovers about her son’s disappearance 30 years ago.

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in the Puget Sound over 30 years ago.

As she works, Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine, but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight tentacles for his human captors—until he forms an unlikely friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. As his affection for Tova grows, Marcellus must use every trick his old, invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Charming, compulsively readable, and full of wit, Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a beautiful exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope–a reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible. Register now for a conversation you just don't want to miss!

About the Author: Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel, REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, was published by Ecco/HarperCollins (US) and Bloomsbury (UK) in Spring 2022 and was an Instant New York Times bestseller and has sold a million and a half copies. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she’s now missing the mountains in the Chicago area with her husband and two children.

Join the conversation and register at https://libraryc.org/santacruzpl/53393.

For upcoming author talks, visit https://libraryc.org/santacruzpl/upcoming.

SCPL's Virtual Author Talks are made possible by the Friends of the Capitola Library.