A trilogy
This series centers on the accidental capture of a giant lobster. Each of the three stories is told from the perspective of a boy living in Lower Narrow Spit, a small fishing community on the coast of the North Atlantic.
The first story, Lower the Trap, is told by Graeme Swinimer, the son of the fisherman who caught the giant lobster. The second story, A Narrow Escape, is told by Norris Fowler, the son of the owner of the town’s only lobster cannery. The final story, Spit Feathers, is told by Ferguson Beaver whose grandfather is a retired fisherman reliving his days in a seniors’ residence.
The Lobster Chronicles was published by Kids Can Press.
Inspiration
I find daily inspiration from people and places around me, and produced a short video to document these experiences. For this series, I went out on a lobster expedition in Sambro Harbour (home of the oldest lighthouse in North America), which is just outside of Halifax Harbour; I toured the New England Aquarium in Boston; I interviewed participants at the annual Pictou Lobster Carnival Festival, and I took photographs during my visit to the Northumberland Fisheries Museum. If you’re ever there, look for the plaque featuring lobster claws! I also got to view the largest lobster in the Nova Scotia provincial collection housed at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax.
While completing this research, I found and purchased a giant lobster claw online, which I like to take with me on school visits.