Santa Cruz County’s first ever Youth Poet Laureate honor was given to Dina Lusztig Noyes at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA. SC County Youth Poet Laureate finalists include Gregory Souza, Simon Ellefson, Madeline Aliah, and Sylvi Kayser. During the inauguration ceremony, each youth poet performed several of their poems, demonstrating their unique voices and talents. The cohort will continue to be a team of artistic excellence and community engagement through poetry work. Some members of the cohort will be reading their poetry at the Scotts Valley Multicultural Fair on May 4. Dina Lusztig Noyes will be Community Writers’ featured reader in-person on Sept. 28 from 2:30-4:30pm at…

Santa Cruz Public Libraries is excited to kick off summer with the 2024 Summer Reading Program. This year’s theme is Read, Renew, Repeat! This conservation message invites participants to reduce consumption, reuse materials, and take the time to read as a restorative measure of self-care and renewal as reading transports us to magical worlds, sparking our imagination and creativity. The Summer Reading Program encourages children to explore the world of books and reading during their summer break. Participation in the Summer Reading Program fosters a love for reading and learning and prevents the “Summer Slip” — a term used to describe the loss over the summer months of academic skills…

This year, a group of teenagers was tasked with bringing justice following the death of Kieran Sunshine, a biomedical executive found with apparent stab wounds in a hotel room as it began to emerge the company’s ForeverFlex5000 wasn’t such a wonder-device after all. Thankfully no one actually died—it was just a storyline dreamed-up for the 2024 Santa Cruz County Mock Trial competition. But the way the scenario played out (in the courtroom where people really do get sent to jail), had legal practitioners commenting that the kids were doing a better job than what they’ve even seen from some lawyers. “Congratulations on making it to the final round,” said Santa…

Melissa Come Back, recently released by Atmosphere Press, is a dual-narrative memoir chronicling two women’s paths through the foster care system. In the book, Melissa, a smart and resilient 11-year-old raised in an abusive household, runs away from the comfortable foster home Patrice and her husband, Bob, provide. Twenty years later, an unexpected encounter at a fundraising gala propels them back together, forcing both of them to confront their individual failures. When, after their reunion, Patrice discovers that the adult Melissa and her pre-teen daughters face eviction, she and Bob are presented with an opportunity to make Melissa part of their family once again. Patrice Keet and Mellissa LaHommedieu, the…