Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze (1951) is a children's novel

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 by Elizabeth Enright

Elizabeth Enright

Elizabeth Enright was an American children's author and illustrator. She was born in Oak Park, Illinois.-Life:Her father, Walter J...

, the last of her four books about the Melendy family, preceded by The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake

The Four-Story Mistake

The Four-Story Mistake is a children's novel by Elizabeth Enright, the second of her four books about the Melendy family, preceded by The Saturdays, and followed by Then There Were Five, and Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze. The four Melendy children live with their father, a widowed professor...

and Then There Were Five

Then There Were Five

Then There Were Five is a children's novel by Elizabeth Enright, the third of her four books about the Melendy family, preceded by The Saturdays and The Four-Story Mistake, and followed by Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze. The four Melendy children live with their father, a widowed professor of...

. The four Melendy children live with their father, a widowed professor of economics, and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper. This is the last book in the Melendy series, and perhaps the weakest of all the books. The unfortunate absence of the three oldest siblings of the Melendy family—Mona's passion, Rush's humor and willfulness, and even adopted brother Mark's quiet moral compass—leaves a large void that is difficult to fill. Enright probably recognized this, and there were no more Melendy books after this, for logically Randy would have gone to boarding school next, leaving Oliver alone.

Spiderweb for Two is notable in that it takes place after World War II; the final chapter of the novel clearly heralds the early days of technology and modernism that marked the 1950s.

Plot introduction

Randy and Oliver Melendy find themselves the only children in the Melendy family for the first time in their lives. Rush and Mark have gone away to a boarding school, and Mona now lives in New York City with the family's devoted elderly friend, Mrs. Oliphant. As usual, Randy hates change of any sort, and even placid, mild Oliver has a hard time being so alone in the house. Then a mysterious, poetic note arrives in the mail, inviting the children to solve clues one by one. Randy and Oliver find themselves exploring the countryside, their community, and discovering their family's history as they race through a maze of guesses and misdirection. The final chapter reveals the author(s) of the clues, and Randy and Oliver are treated to the "rare reward" they were promised at the start of the game.