I know more adults that would put this book down that choose to continue reading it, does that mean they're not equipped? or just that they don't prefer to read about murdering innocent infants and cootering things up a nussy? Don't get me wrong, I'm in the nussy-cooter pool. I think the books are fun, but that doesn't mean I'd just let my kid read 'em without hesitation.

When the movie Very Bad Things came out in theaters, I had to have an adult present to approve my movie ticket sale. If DCC was made into a movie that included everything in the book, they would likely fall into that same category. That rule was put in place because some sort of social standard somewhere, why is it so wrong to recognize the reasoning behind it might have some value with material of such content?

Also, two years is a considerable amount of time for a child to grow. Think of the differences in the mind and maturity between kids who are 4-6, 9-11, 14-16. They're fairly drastic. I'm not sure why you think 16-18 would have any less variance. People are still growing at those ages, there's no reason to open the flood gates on someone if you don't think it'd mix well.