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Devilish Books Remain on New Jersey ShelvesSchool district officials are letting two books about the devil stay in the Chestnut Ridge Middle School library in Sewell, New Jersey, after a review committee judged they were age appropriate and acceptable reading for students in grades 6–8. The books, The Devil’s Storybook by Natalie Babbitt and The Devil: Opposing Viewpoints by Thomas Schouweiler, were challenged in January by parents Tahir and Wanda Mella, who contended the books inspired their 14-year-old son David O’Quinn’s interest in satanism that led to disturbing changes in his behavior, including acts of self-mutilation.Washington Township School Superintendent Thomas Flemming said in the February 18 Cherry Hill Courier-Post that he fully supported the decision of the committee, which was composed of the Chestnut Ridge principal, librarian, a teacher, and two community members. Flemming notified the Mellas of the decision in a letter they received February 17 and indicated he would meet with them about their concerns. The Mellas, who in January formed the group National Concerned Citizens for Youth, have asked the school district to create a policy requiring all occult titles to be kept behind the librarian’s desk. Tahir Mella, a Philadelphia immigration attorney who has himself written a children’s book about a mythical, devil-like monster called Casyrole: Ten Legendary Tales, told the Courier-Post that elementary- and middle-school children should first get their parent’s permission to check out books on devils. Posted February 27, 2004. |
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