MMGM- Interview with Michael Spradlin about his Threat of the Spider!

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I'm always delighted to see new titles out by the fantastic middle grade writer Michael Spradlin, and even happier to talk with him about his work! If you don't have his World War II titles, his Pararescue Corps novels, or, if you're lucky, his 2013 Scholastic Killer Species series, you need to add all of his titles to your next order. You'll especially want to stock up on his newest series, The Rise of the Spider. since they are short books in an addictive series. They follow the rise of the Nazis from the point of view of German boys who have run in with local officials, and are a welcome twist on the WWII story. Please welcome Mr. Spradlin to the blog today! 

• You’ve written about World War II before, but most often from the point of view of US combatants. What inspired you to write from the perspective of German teens?

I originally had the thought of writing about the Edelweiss Pirates, which were a real group of German kids and teens who engaged in active espionage near the end of the war. Many of them were caught and executed. These were 12-18 year old kids. Executed. Then in talking with my editor we started asking questions about ‘resistance at the very beginning’ during Hitler’s rise to power. And Rise of the Spider was born.

• Rolf and Ansel are friends, but have different approaches to life, so it’s good to see events unfold from their perspectives. Can you tell us anything about what characters other books in the series will focus on? Will we get Hans’ perspective?

We won’t get Hans’ perspective directly as in the protagonist, as there is nothing remotely redeeming about him. The Spider Strikes (book 3) will feature Joshua, Ansel and Rolf’s Jewish friend, book four will feature Moritz and his twin sister Mathilda whose father owns the bookstore, Mathilda will the focus of Book Five and another Jewish lad, Avram will he in book six.  And everything I’ve told you so far might change.

• I loved the details of everyday life in a small Bavarian town at this time. How were you able to get these details? Did you hunt down German women’s magazines or read social histories?

I read a lot of stuff. Mostly I looked at pictures because I don’t read or speak German. But I managed to find a lot of good material on how elementary schools operated for example. I also visited Heroldsberg, and it has a definite vibe (although I’m sure the vibe was quite different in the 1930s)and I think the location brings a lot to the story.

• Local news is so important, yet there are few local newspapers remaining. Seeing Ansel’s father try so hard to get the news out to people was inspiring. Do you have a background in reporting? Where should today’s students turn for news?

As a matter of fact I do! I grew up in the small town of Homer, Michigan and for all of high school I was a correspondent for our weekly newspaper, "The Homer Index". I covered high school sports and features. It was my first paid writing gig.

As for news today, especially for young people, that’s a good question and I’m not sure I have a good answer. The news of today is not the news of my youth. I guess I would say to talk to a trusted adult and ask them to review some various sources along with you. Then you can make a decision. And listen and learn from various viewpoints. It creates understanding.

• The Hitler Youth plays a large role in your books. What was the most alarming thing you learned about this organization?

Oh, where to even begin. This was just a tragedy inflicted on an entire generation of young people. I don’t know that I can single out one thing as it is all so horrible. I think the darkest hour is probably after Hitler becomes chancellor and all other youth programs like Scouts, are forbidden and participation in the Hitler Youth is mandatory.

• Your MEDAL OF HONOR series have been wildly popular with my middle school readers. Did you draw on any real-life inspiration for your characters in THE WEB OF THE SPIDER series?

I’m sure I did. I don’t think I made any direct parallels but everyone you meet becomes part of your voice. I think there is a little bit of me in Ansel, the gadfly, the joke cracker, you know me well enough to know that there is almost always a character like Ansel in my fiction. But the real people in the books, are straight from history, like Himmler and Hitler himself.

• Do you have any favorite middle grade books about World War II? I loved Wulffson’s 1996 Soldier X about a young German soldier who pretends to be Russian in order to survive.

I do. It’s call Into the Killing Seas and it’s great. (N.B. This is one of Mr. Spradlin's titles, along with Prisoner of War and The Enemy Above.)

• It’s easy to look back at history and think that people should have prevented horrible things from happening. There were many people in Germany who didn’t support the Nazis, but didn’t act against them, either. Did you find any lessons in this?

The lesson is down to whoever it was that said, ‘Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.’ (the attribution is questioned). We have to be vigilant. We have to guard our rights viciously. They can easily be taken away, or even worse, given away. Don’t fool yourself. Hitler was just one in a long line of dictators that seized power in multiple ways. He wasn’t the first and he certainly won’t be the last.

• There are so many books about World War II. Why are readers still interested in this topic, even after almost 80 years?

I’m not sure but I’m glad there are because I love writing about it. I think it resonates because it is possible to determine good and evil. Other wars and eras have not been so easy to delineate.

• On a lighter note, during your trip to Bavaria, did you have any particularly tasty regional food? Were the items in Frau Hufnagel’s bakery based on local treats?

I did try schnitzel. Not a fan. I have to say most of the German food I tried was heavy and meh. However they do great pastries and yes, the apple fritters are a treat!

How fantastic that there may be SIX books in this series. The first one (of which I bought two copies) has been constantly checked out, and my readers are eager for book two. 

Spradlin, Michael. The Threat of the Spider (#2)

June 24, 2025 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Following the events of Rise of the Spider, we return to Heroldsberg, Germany, in 1930. From the point of view of Ansel, a friend of Rolf's, we get a front row seat to the increase in the popularity of the Nazi party in 1930. Ansel's father is a reporter for a Nuremberg newspaper, but with all of the political upheaval, has been given permission to set up a satellite office to better report on what is going on in the smaller town. Along with Klaus, a photographer, he sets up shop in the bakery abandoned by Mrs. Hufnagel, who left the country after her shop was burned. People are unhappy with the economic state of the country, and there are few jobs but lots of frustration. People like Hans are active in groups like the Hitler Youth, which often target Jewish businesses like the Leibowitz's book shop where Ansel gets his Dirk Goodly mystery books. Ansel's father wants the truth to be told about what the Nazis are doing, and when Himmler is set to come to Heroldsberg to speak, he sees it as an opportunity to raise public awareness about the horrible things the Nazis are doing. Unfortunately, the local party chairman is also the chief of police, so when Ansel's father goes missing, asking Chief Muller for help is not an option. Instead, Ansel enlists the help of Rolf and their friend Joshua to investigate and try to locate his father. Working against Hans is fraught with danger, but the stakes are high. With Rolf's family planning to leave Germany for Long Island, and a tragic end to Ansel's investigation, how much worse will things get in Heroldsberg?

While there are plenty of books about World War II, there are relatively few told from the perspective of German characters. My favorites are Marino's The Plot to Kill Hitler series and Osborne's Hitler's Secret, but The Web of the Spider series is even better, since it gives such a good look at what life was like in the time leading up to the war. We think about the Great Depression in the US, but the economy was a global problem. There are definitely parallels to current economic and social difficulties that make this a somewhat cautionary tale.

This book also ends on a cliffhanger, and it will be hard to wait a year to find out what happens next, although I am hoping we get to see a bit of Joshua's perspective. In some ways, it would be interesting to see a book from Hans' perspective. While history paints the Nazis as completely evil, which is certainly true, I often wonder about people who somehow really thought that what they were doing somehow helped their country. It would be interesting, and also cautionary, to explore how ordinary people can be persuaded to participate in such hate filled actions. If any author could do this with finesse, it would be Spradlin, whose Pararescue Jumpers series, Medal of Honor Books, and stand alone novels like Prisoner of War, Into the Killing Seas, and The Enemy Above all focus on characters who do really mean well and are operating under dire circumstances. 

Friddell, Claudia. The Mysterious Virginia Hall: World War II's Most Dangerous Spy
June 24, 2025 by Calkins Creek
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

I'm beginning to think that books about World War II will never stop being written, since we are now seeing some more of the hidden side of the war. Virginia Hall, who tried to keep her story as quiet as she could, has already gotten two middle grade treatments, in Purnell's 2022 Agent Most Wanted: The Never-Before-Told Story of the Most Dangerous Spy of World War II and Mitchell's 2019 The Lady Is a Spy: Virginia Hall, World War II Hero of the French Resistance, but this book is about half the length of those books, since it is heavily photo illustrated and in a verse format. This makes the book read very quickly, but still offers a good bit of information. (Page count is 160, but that includes some end notes and index.)

Hall's story is an intriguing one. Born in 1906, Hall took advantage of growing opportunities for women, and pushed the boundaries by joining the foreign service. After a hunting accident that caused her to lose a leg, she had difficulty joining the war effort, but eventually was able to operate as a British spy, helping to protect France. The book shows her path to that point, and also gives plenty of pulse pounding details of her war work. The fact that Friddell talked to Hall's family and got more insight to her life sets this one apart.

This is similar in length and format to Borden's 2013 His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg or 2018 Ski Soldier. Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming is probably the best known example of a life story in verse, and I can't think of many biographies or autobiographies in this format, other than Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet by Andrea Cheng or Engle's Enchanted Air. The Mysterious Virginia Hall didn't seem as poetic as some of these other works, but the shorter lines and lighter text, combined with a lot of good quality photographs, made this an exciting, fast-paced book to pick up.