Q&A with Michael P. Spradlin

 

 

 

Michael P. Spradlin is the author of the new middle grade novel Rise of the Spider, the first in a new series. His other books include the middle grade novel The Enemy Above. He lives in Lapeer, Michigan.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Rise of the Spider?

 

A: Most of my historical fiction involves young people with a front-row seat to a historical event. My goal is always for readers to imagine themselves in these situations and think about how they would respond.

 

In the case of Rise of the Spider, I wanted the same approach, but with a longer view. How did the Nazis’ rise to power affect a young person during that time? And how was it the same and different for each of them?

 

Q: How did you research the novel, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: A large part of my research involved visiting Heroldsberg and Nuremberg, Germany. Heroldsberg’s Old Town is much as it was before and during the war. At Nuremberg I was able to walk the Nazi Rally Grounds, stand on the Great Road and in the grandstand where the rallies were held.

 

It was an emotional and deeply felt moment to tread the same ground where one of the evilest human beings to ever live had come to power.

 

Q: How did you create your character Rolf?

 

A: Rolf kicks off the series and I see him as a bit of an everyman. He is busy living his life when the world around him suddenly changes and he must adapt to a new reality. We see the rise of Nazism through his eyes and he and his family become a microcosm of the larger world in Germany at the time.

 

Rolf appeared to me rather easily and I think that’s because like most writers, I tend to see a little bit of myself in each character.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: I want readers to understand that “it can happen here.” We live in a free society and tend to believe it will always be that way. But it’s important to realize that freedoms are not granted, they are hard won. And they can be taken away.

 

One of the most astonishing things to me was Hitler’s prison sentence after he was convicted of treason for the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. He served only 10 months! And the reason for that is that the judges who presided over his case were all members of the Nazi party! They wanted to acquit him but couldn’t really because four Munich police officers were killed in the rioting.

When I first became old enough to vote, my mother would always remind me to “pay attention to your local races. Your judges, county commissioners and other politicians.” She said this because she knew the loss of freedom often begins at the local level. Mothers know things.

 

Q: This is the first in a series--can you tell us what’s next?

 

A: The next book is called the Threat of the Spider, and it features Ansel, who is Rolf’s best friend in book two. Ansel is a bit of a jokester in book one, but he sees the changes in his country deepening with every day. Each book will be told from the point of view of a different young person living in the town at that time.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: If I had one wish, it would be for everyone to remember the old saying “what is past, is prologue.” History teaches us a great many things and one of them is that a profound change in a society can ultimately have an incredibly large impact.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb