Threat of the Spider (The Web of the Spider #2)
Michael P. Spradlin
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published June 24, 2025
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About Threat of the Spider
A twelve-year-old boy searches for his father and fights for free press amid the chilling rise of Hitler’s Germany in this second book in the action-packed middle grade series Web of the Spider for fans of I Survived and A Night Divided.
Ansel has never been afraid to say what’s on his mind. He’s always the first among his friends to speak up when something doesn’t feel right. When the Hitler Youth first set up shop in Heroldsberg the year before, Ansel quickly made enemies of the chapter’s arrogant leader, Hans. Of course, Ansel is also twelve years old, so he spends much of his time reading his favorite Dirk Goodly, Boy Detective novels and trying to make his friends laugh.
But more and more of his classmates have been swayed by Hans’s tactics and the Youth organization is growing throughout the city. Ansel knows that Hans and his group are spreading false information—after all, Ansel’s father is a journalist for the local paper and has been going toe to toe with Nazi propaganda for a long time.
Then Ansel’s father goes missing right before a prominent Nazi leader comes to town. With the local police in the Nazi’s pocket, can Ansel and his friends use their detective skills to find his father and thwart the Nazi’s plans to suppress the truth?
My Review
This book came out at kind of a wild moment for US residents. (Have we had NOT wild moments lately? Hmm.)
So this one takes place in 1930 in Heroldsberg. The Hitler Youth are a growing organization, and one Ansel and his friends have zero interest in joining. Ansel’s father is a journalist who continues to report on violence against his Jewish neighbors and the harm of the Nazi rhetoric.
It’s clear that Ansel’s family is being targeted because of his father speaking out. Ansel and his friends routinely encounter a group of boys in the HJ who bully them.
Despite those heavy topics, Ansel’s tone is light. He’s smart and tends to view things with a wry sense of humor. He and his friends settle a dispute with the HJ boys in a game of capture the flag. At one point, he is mystified by a girl’s strange shy behavior, and when someone tells him it must be because she’s in love, he thinks, wow, who could she be in love with? Which definitely got a little chuckle out of me.
The content stays appropriate for the audience while relating critical facts about German history. It’s nicely done. It’s just also quite surreal to read about this period in history right now.
Readers who enjoy historical fiction, especially that about World War II will not want to miss this series. Here’s my review of the first book, Rise of the Spider.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Vague references to characters swearing. What they say isn’t listed.
Romance/Sexual Content
Vague references to a girl having a crush on someone. Ansel can’t figure out who it is.
Spiritual Content
References to some characters Jewish identities.
Violent Content
Ansel and his friends get into arguments and later a fight with members of the Hitler Youth program. Someone kidnaps another person. A man with a gun chases Ansel and fires the gun. Someone lies on the ground, apparently the victim of gun violence.
Drug Content
None.
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