NO EXIT
The Lucky Lobsters was inspired by a somewhat harrowing but humorous incident involving some very lucky lobsters. Some years ago, I was diving alone (not recommended) in some northern Atlantic waters when I came across a string of lobster traps all of which had several lobsters inside. The ocean floor there was about 40 feet deep. The water was cold but I was getting comfortable in my wet suit as my body heat warmed the water inside the suit. I didn't plan this mass escape but, when I found them, hopelessly trapped, there was only one thing I could do.
The very last one saw me as the enemy though. He likely was afraid of this alien with goggles, steel tank, wet suit and large black flippers, manufactured by Scuba Pro-nothing but the best. I thought he had gotten quite defensive about his predicament. I was just there to aid his escape. He wasn't helping out at all. He was a large one and kept lunging at me with his big orange-green-blue claw as I repeatedly tried to tip the cage so he could walk out. I didn't know then if a large lobster could nip off a finger or worse. Still don't. Didn't he know I was his savior?
Then I heard a boat engine above me as I continued struggling with this uncooperative lobster. I once had a wife who was stubborn just like this caged crustacean. Sometimes she too didn't understand I was doing things for her benefit – like trying to get her to go off the path so we could photograph the Orange Cliffs in Canyonlands National Park. Yeah, it was she who was to pick me up that day when the dive ended.
My heart raced. "Get out!" I wanted to scream but that would not have been a smart thing to do with my mouthpiece feeding me air and all. The engine drone was louder. "Get out!" I silently yelled. Didn't he see that I had set free his friends and relatives? Was he stupid? Maybe he had been asleep-possibly blind. What was his problem? The boat was almost on top of me. “Get the heck out of there!" I shouted in my head. Finally, I tipped the trap again and opened the netting entrance so he could get out. Ungrateful crustacean! And so off he went but I had a long swim and little air.
Well they had all made it to safety, hopefully having learned something about those wooden boxes whose netting allows easy entry but a nearly impossible exit. Meanwhile my air was below 300 PSI and I had to swim underwater a hundred yards or so to shore. I always wondered if the lobster boat people-nice hardworking guys I was sure- had associated my emergence alone from the water with the no doubt unusual fact that there were no lobsters in the traps. They sure were lucky lobsters that day!
This experience inspired the lobster series of which The Lucky Lobster is the first. Besides writing children's books, young adult and adult novels, I teach English in the New York City public school system where I have been employed for the past 13 years. I also have taught English in a village in Thailand. I have traveled extensively in South and Central America, Turkey and India. One of my favorite things to do besides scuba diving is to go on day-long photographic solo trips in exciting cities such as Mumbai, Istanbul, Lima and Bangkok.
The book is available on this web site or at Amazon, Create Space as well as Trafford Publishing. Teachers, request a complimentary PDF copy by emailing me at dorion8@gmail.com. Free shipping for ten or more copies. The second edition is being sold for $7.99 at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Lucky-Lobsters-Gary-Dorion/dp/1482018128/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_2_BQ4F
All illustrations by Jennifer Taylor, British Columbia
Amazon Reviews: Five Stars by New York City Teachers and Others
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482018128/ref=cm_sw_su_dp
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482018128/ref=cm_sw_su_dp
I highly recommend this book to students of all ages. Although I am not vegan, I think the book offers a valuable perspective on animal rights. The lessons that the lobster children learn after disobeying their parents are ones that all children can appreciate, that is, sometimes children can get into very serious trouble by deliberately ignoring their parents' advice. Children will love this book for its humor, brilliant illustrations and for the valuable story line centering on the welfare of animals.
- Georgia Misoulis, New York City Social Studies Teacher
As a New York City teacher of young children, I strongly recommend this book. It is a very exciting read. Both adults and children alike will enjoy this delightful adventure about three young curious lobsters who want to explore the world around them without thinking about possible consequences. Readers will empathize with these so likable creatures of the sea as we await their fate. This is a truly heartwarming and suspenseful story which conveys with humor the values of kindness to animals, childhood friendship and parental care. It can have us all be more aware of the effect we have on our environment. The illustrations by Jennifer Taylor are engaging and wonderful. I loved this book.
-Patricia Martone
From my review on Vegbooks.org: Written after Gary Dorion liberated some crustaceans from traps in the Atlantic Ocean, this book looks at life from the lobster's point of view. The characters in Dorion's story face the same unenviable fate as so many of their kin, but instead of being boiled alive, they find themselves returned home. Talk about Lucky!
-Jessica Almy, http://vegbooks.org/
I am a New York City biology teacher. The group of lobsters provides one example of animals' happy lifestyle destroyed by the brutal way they are captured and, in the lobsters' case, boiled alive for human indulgence.
-Levia Shanken
The Lucky Lobsters is a children's book that will make a youngster think about the foods people eat. It instills empathy towards the plight of animals and helps them understand that all creatures have a family system. This book is for animal lovers everywhere!
-Eugene Harding, NYC school psychologist
NO EXIT
The Lucky Lobsters was inspired by a somewhat harrowing but humorous incident involving some very lucky lobsters. Some years ago, I was diving alone (not recommended) in some northern Atlantic waters when I came across a string of lobster traps all of which had several lobsters inside. The ocean floor there was about 40 feet deep. The water was cold but I was getting comfortable in my wet suit as my body heat warmed the water inside the suit. I didn't plan this mass escape but, when I found them, hopelessly trapped, there was only one thing I could do. The very last one saw me as the enemy though. He likely was afraid of this alien with goggles, steel tank, wet suit and large black flippers, manufactured by Scuba Pro-nothing but the best. I thought he had gotten quite defensive about his predicament. I was just there to aid his escape. He wasn't helping out at all. He was a large one and kept lunging at me with his big orange-green-blue claw as I repeatedly tried to tip the cage so he could walk out. I didn't know then if a large lobster could nip off a finger or worse. Still don't. Didn't he know I was his savior?
Then I heard a boat engine above me as I continued struggling with this uncooperative lobster. I once had a wife who was stubborn just like this caged crustacean. Sometimes she too didn't understand I was doing things for her benefit – like trying to get her to go off the path so we could photograph the Orange Cliffs in Canyonlands National Park. Yeah, it was she who was to pick me up that day when the dive ended.
My heart raced. "Get out!" I wanted to scream but that would not have been a smart thing to do with my mouthpiece feeding me air and all. The engine drone was louder. "Get out!" I silently yelled. Didn't he see that I had set free his friends and relatives? Was he stupid? Maybe he had been asleep-possibly blind. What was his problem? The boat was almost on top of me. “Get the heck out of there!" I shouted in my head. Finally, I tipped the trap again and opened the netting entrance so he could get out. Ungrateful crustacean! And so off he went but I had a long swim and little air.
Well they had all made it to safety, hopefully having learned something about those wooden boxes whose netting allows easy entry but a nearly impossible exit. Meanwhile my air was below 300 PSI and I had to swim underwater a hundred yards or so to shore. I always wondered if the lobster boat people-nice hardworking guys I was sure- had associated my emergence alone from the water with the no doubt unusual fact that there were no lobsters in the traps. They sure were lucky lobsters that day!
This experience inspired the lobster series of which The Lucky Lobster is the first. Besides writing children's books, young adult and adult novels, I teach English in the New York City public school system where I have been employed for the past 13 years. I also have taught English in a village in Thailand. I have traveled extensively in South and Central America, Turkey and India. One of my favorite things to do besides scuba diving is to go on day-long photographic solo trips in exciting cities such as Mumbai, Istanbul, Lima and Bangkok.
The book is available on this web site or at Amazon, Create Space as well as Trafford Publishing. Teachers, request a complimentary PDF copy by emailing me at dorion8@gmail.com. Free shipping for ten or more copies. The second edition is being sold for $7.99 at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Lucky-Lobsters-Gary-Dorion/dp/1482018128/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_2_BQ4F
All illustrations by Jennifer Taylor, British Columbia
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