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The Spider's Web
Skinhead. Neo-Nazi. Lexi Jordan knows the names her friends use to talk about themselves, but she isn’t quite sure what they mean. She knows the tattoo on her head—of a swastika—and the heavy boots that blister her feet are part of belonging. And Lexi wants to belong. She feels more at home sneaking out to meet and make plans with her friends than she does in her own home. But Lexi begins to wonder just how safe she is when the group begins to do things that make her increasingly uneasy. When she meets Ursula Zeidler, an old woman with a terrifying secret, Lexi sets off a chain of events that places everyone she cares about in danger and leads her to make the most important decisions of her life. In this suspenseful and all too realistic novel, Laura E. Williams allows the reader to see the world through the eyes of two one in the present, whose dissatisfaction with her life leads her to flirt with the edges of danger, and one from the past. For both, the consequences of their actions become achingly real.
150 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1999
23 people want to read
About the author
Laura E. Williams
49 books24 followersLaura E. Williams is the author of Up a Creek and Behind the Bedroom Wall, which was named a Jane Addams Peace Award Honor Book. She lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 29, 2012
After a divorce by her parents, thirteen year old Lexi Jordan joins a Neo-Nazi Skinhead group who befriend her. The things they do make her uneasy but she feels like she belongs there. Her brainwashing begins to come undone when she meets Ursula Zeidler an old woman who reminds her of her grandmother and who possesses a terrifying secret. Through Ursula's past and Lexi's present they both reevaluate their beliefs and values and deal with the prejudice that is part of their life.
Excellent young adult book that would certainly be a great starter for discussion about prejudice.
Excellent young adult book that would certainly be a great starter for discussion about prejudice.
January 13, 2026
The little bit of swearing kept this from a 4 star.
Generations of old still carry over lies, prejudice and hate. It's good some hearts are salvageable, and there are lovely people to help with that.
Generations of old still carry over lies, prejudice and hate. It's good some hearts are salvageable, and there are lovely people to help with that.
February 3, 2016
This book, by Laura E. Williams, is an examination of the problem of anti-Semitism in today's world, relating this to the skinhead movement.
The two main characters are Lexi, a young teenager who is skinhead, and Ursula, and older woman who once lived in Germany.
Lexi has some major difficulties at home and has fallen in with a group of skinheads who espouse the philosophy of hating non-whites and Jews. She has shaved her head and had a Nazi tatoo put on to the left side of her head. One night she's involved in spray-painting a Jewish synagogue. She ends up being chased and takes refuge in Ursula's home where she meets her.
Ursula, meanwhile, is remembering when she was a young girl in Germany and marched in pro-Hitler marches. At first she is friends with a Jewish family, believing that there are "good" Jews and that Hitler is talking only about the "bad" Jews, but things get worse. Finally, she is partly responsible for the Gestapo taking the "good" Jewish friends of hers. It's a shame she felt for her entire life. She finally realized that the ideas that Hitler promoted were insane, and that she herself was part of that insanity, at least for a while.
Meanwhile, Lexi's friends end up invading Ursula's house and injuring her, and then they set their sites on something higher; setting fire to the neighborhood synagogue.
The question becomes, of course, will Lexi realize what she is doing, especially since her fervor for the group has infected her younger sister who decides to also join the skinhead group.
There is no doubt that the power of hatred is very great, and that it's growing. The fact that many people believe the holocaust never actually happened is just one example of this refusal to deal with reality. The book shows the tactics of these types who hide in the dark and strike out at individuals that have never hurt them at all.
It also shows how people can be caught up in the frenzy of the times, as Ursula was when she was younger and as Lexi's younger sister has now. The book helps to put a personal face on this hatred and the results of that hatred. It's not a happy book in any sense of the term, but it's a good book and an important book, especially for these times.
The two main characters are Lexi, a young teenager who is skinhead, and Ursula, and older woman who once lived in Germany.
Lexi has some major difficulties at home and has fallen in with a group of skinheads who espouse the philosophy of hating non-whites and Jews. She has shaved her head and had a Nazi tatoo put on to the left side of her head. One night she's involved in spray-painting a Jewish synagogue. She ends up being chased and takes refuge in Ursula's home where she meets her.
Ursula, meanwhile, is remembering when she was a young girl in Germany and marched in pro-Hitler marches. At first she is friends with a Jewish family, believing that there are "good" Jews and that Hitler is talking only about the "bad" Jews, but things get worse. Finally, she is partly responsible for the Gestapo taking the "good" Jewish friends of hers. It's a shame she felt for her entire life. She finally realized that the ideas that Hitler promoted were insane, and that she herself was part of that insanity, at least for a while.
Meanwhile, Lexi's friends end up invading Ursula's house and injuring her, and then they set their sites on something higher; setting fire to the neighborhood synagogue.
The question becomes, of course, will Lexi realize what she is doing, especially since her fervor for the group has infected her younger sister who decides to also join the skinhead group.
There is no doubt that the power of hatred is very great, and that it's growing. The fact that many people believe the holocaust never actually happened is just one example of this refusal to deal with reality. The book shows the tactics of these types who hide in the dark and strike out at individuals that have never hurt them at all.
It also shows how people can be caught up in the frenzy of the times, as Ursula was when she was younger and as Lexi's younger sister has now. The book helps to put a personal face on this hatred and the results of that hatred. It's not a happy book in any sense of the term, but it's a good book and an important book, especially for these times.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews