Graeme knows every inch of his fishing community. What's left for a future marine biologist to discover? But when Graeme's dad catches a gargantuan lobster with antennae the size of bicycle spokes, Graeme is fascinated. Graeme is even more excited when his dad promises to put the creature up for auction at the town's annual lobster festival and, if it gets the highest bid, use the prize money to take Graeme to a marine research aquarium. But what if the right thing would be to set the lobster free? Lower the Trap is the first book in the Lobster Chronicles, a trilogy about what happens in a small coastal town when a giant lobster is caught. Each instalment describes the same events through a different boy's eyes, and the result is three suspenseful, believable stories and an engrossing reading experience. . AGES: 7-10 AUTHOR: Surrounded by shipyards, marinas and fog in the port city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jessica became fascinated by the rich history of her province while travelling up and down the coastline aboard her family's boat and visiting museums in fishing communities along the way. There was one artefact in particular that recently caught her attention. It featured an arrangement of lobster claws glued to a plaque, surrounded by a rope frame, and must have been made by a former cannery worker. Jessica loved the idea of someone making artwork from modest materials in less-than-ideal conditions. When asked what sparked her interest in giant lobsters, she noted that when fishermen came across them from time to time, the rare occurrence always captured the public's attention. These huge crustaceans are not particularly attractive creatures, nor are they endangered, and yet they command a considerable amount of respect, given their extremely advanced age. In fact, the largest lobster ever caught was off Nova Scotia's coast back in 1977. It weighed 44 pounds and was possibly as old as 100 years! Jessica recognises that featuring a giant lobster is unusual in the world of children's literature. However, she's quite fond of lobsters.
