Customer Reviews

Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze (Melendy Quartet)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
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Spiderweb for Two is the last of the four books in the Melendy series written by Elizabeth Enright. Although the book is set during WWII, it was actually written about ten years after the third book and the war isn't mentioned.

It's 1944 and Mona, Rush and Mark are at boarding school. Randy and Oliver are home without their siblings and aren't happy about the prospect of the school year without them. Things look pretty bleak until a letter addressed to Miss Miranda Melendy and Master Oliver Melendy arrives. It was postmarked from New York, but the children have no idea who it is from. Inside is a poem containing the first clue in what becomes a year-long treasure hunt. Randy and Oliver enjoy the adventures as they try to solve the clues that lead them into the following summer and a big surprise.

Who is the author of the clues? Is the author the same person sending them? The answers to these questions are as much fun as the treasure hunt itself.

I enjoyed this book, but missed the rest of the Melendy family. It felt a little lonely and sad without the entire crew (except over the holidays). But most of all, I realized after I turned the last page, that this was the last of the Melendy series. I mourned the loss of the wonderful family I've loved throughout their adventures.

Armchair Interviews says: The Melendy family series is a must read. They will warm your hearts and put a smile on your face.

I recently purchased all of the books of the Melendy Quartet for my 9 year old daughter. She loved them and enjoyed the storyline of the four siblings. I was worried these might be a little old fashioned and might not keep her interest, but was really pleased when she enjoyed them so much. It's hard to keep finding interesting books for my young reader that do not include being disrespectful to others or are too mature for her comprehension level. As a third grader, she already has a reading level beyond a junior high school student, but finding stories that still challenge her and don't frighten her is hard. These books were wonderful.

My daughter loves all four of the Melendy books. She first read them when she was 7, but still loves them at 9. The family is interesting, funny, and cooperative. But in this book, the focus in on the 2 youngest Melendy children and a "mystery" they solve. The mystery is more of a series of gentle puzzles; there is no sense of danger whatsoever. It is just a lovely, classic children's book, which is a welcome respite from the modern world's all-too-real problems for children.

"Spiderweb for Two" builds back to the same high quality of children's fiction that was established in Book 1 -- "The Saturdays".

With the older children at boarding school or living in the city, Randy and Oliver have the blues. But a mystery scavenger hunt unfolds that lead them to develop their relationship with each other (as well as with some great neighbors). The children act childlike and the book is entertaining, even if a bit unbelievable.

This book more than makes up for "The Four-Story Mistake" and "Then There Were Five".

All of Enright's stories are well worth reading. They are reminiscent

of long ago days in uppper middle class white America during and after World War II.

World events are part of the background. The focus of these stories is on

everyday life of a family who move from the city to live in the country.

Themes revolve around each child's character; how they interact with

each other and others; and how they grow from lessons learned.

Two thumbs up with milk and cookies.

This is a great book for a young reader who may read above his grade level, but is still too young for subject matter more appropriate for older kids. My daughter is in first grade but reads at a much higher level, so it's been a bit of a challenge to find books that hold her interest but are still for little kids. The mystery central to the plot captivated her, and she couldn't wait to get to the next clue. Also, the book was written in a time when kids were free to roam the neighborhood and countryside on their own all day and have cool adventures, which fired my daughter's imagination. All that freedom without danger was very exciting. It's a great story about managing to get along with each other and work together, but not sappy or unbelievable. Just a great story for younger and older readers. Kind of like Harriet the Spy, but still innocent enough for first graders.

I have been a huge fan of Enright and enjoyed her books since first reading them in my teens. Somehow this final entry in the Melendy Quartet had escaped me until recently. I bought fresh copies of all four and read them beginning to end and enjoyed this book as much as the first three.

In this fourth and final installment of the Melendy family stories, the eldest three children, Mona, Rush, and adopted brother Mark have left for boarding school, leaving Randy (Miranda) and Oliver home with their widower father and faithful housekeeper Cuffy to carry on. It looks like a bleak year for them until a mysterious letter arrives with a rhymed clue that they must solve before going on to the next step in a puzzle that will take them the entire year to solve.

Although this is set during World War II, Enright actually wrote the story in the early 1950s and the war is hardly mentioned, unlike the other stories. Also, the five children not being together in their schemes was a bit of a letdown. However, the reader will have an enjoyable time with lively Randy and thoughtful Oliver as they piece out the monthly letter mysteries, which often have a literary bent. Will they find out who sent the letters before their sister and brothers return home in the spring? Is their old friend Mrs. Oliphant involved? A final visit with old friends before the series comes to an end.

I am reading all of the Melendy family books with my daughter and this is our favorite yet. Exciting. Fun.