Rise of the Spider (The Web of the Spider, 1)
Book 1 of The Web of the Spider series follows Rolf von Heusen (12) in a small town in Bavaria starting in 1929. Rolf’s mother died of influenza, his oldest brother was killed in the Great War, and his remaining brother, Romer, is fifteen. Their father owns a small factory, but they still struggle financially due to the poor economy, as Germany attempts to pay crippling war reparations. Rolf is mostly interested in playing football until he meets two young men setting up an office in town, who are there to promote the Hitler Youth organization. Rolf and his friend Ansel are wary, but Romer is drawn to the group and secretly attends its meetings, despite his father’s disapproval. Attacks on a friendly Jewish baker and other shopkeepers begin to happen. And then Rolf finds evidence that Romer is participating in the attacks.
Spradlin does a solid job of setting up the story for readers who might not know the historical background, the conditions that allowed the Nazis to rise. His author’s note ponders why Nazism first spread in Bavaria and speaks of how totalitarianism might surface in the present day, and he provides a timeline and glossary. Rolf is a sympathetic young hero, who hopes to find a way to fight against the tide of events, providing a cliffhanger ending that will send readers looking for the next volume in the series. Recommended. Ages 8-12.
