For years, students in Carlstadt’s sixth-grade have been learning important lessons on peace, perseverance and the will to never give up. In part, the unique curriculum has come from instructors, but much has been brought to them through the work of one their own age. It came from someone who overcame the odds and spent the better portion of his short lifetime setting the stage for a powerful message that will forever ring true through literature.

The message Mattie J.T. Stepanek disseminated rang so true the new Carlstadt Public School’s media center bears the name of his goal for which he was most fond: peace. Officials at the school officially named the library two weeks ago The Peace Library in honor of the boy who overcame a rare form of muscular dystrophy to write seven inspirational books. Of the seven, five made the New York Times bestseller’s list. All of his books touched the hearts and emotions of presidents, world leaders and talk show hosts alike by the time of his untimely death in 2004 when he was only 13 years of age.

"It was just amazing to see the impact of these writings and Mattie’s inspiration on the students," said sixth-grade English teacher Michael Mangone. "How profoundly they were affected; the change in behavior toward each other and in themselves."

Stepanek, who was born in Washington D.C. and lived much of his life in Maryland was a quadriplegic stricken with the rare form of muscular dystrophy called Dysautonomic Mitochondrial Myopathy. He had an older sister and two brothers pass away from the same disease, but was always taught to overcome the grief from his mother Jeni, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, an adult form contracted later in her life. Mattie did indeed go on to persevere.

He began writing when he was only three years old. He excelled and by age 11 was enrolled in college curriculum classes and had assembled a collection containing thousands of poems, dozens of essays and short stories and many illustrations. His books went to publication and the writing, most about peace, overcoming obstacles and self-motivation caught the eyes of the world. He became a regular on Good Morning America, Larry King Live and the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah even wrote the foreword in his book Reflections of a Peacemaker. Former President Jimmy Carter eulogized him at his 2004 funeral, shortly before Mattie would have turned 14 years old.

Mangone saw Stepanek on TV and by 2001 had ordered some of his books for faculty and staff through Mattie’s mother Jeni. Students became upset they didn’t have the books in hand, so he gave them the option to buy some of their own. Now, the series of published works is in regular curricular rotation. This year alone, the children have sent cards during Christmas, essays on the comparisons between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mattie and their own letters about their inner feelings and emotions to Jeni.

"Mrs. Stepanek wanted to know how they could change and I think they moved her so much that she just wanted to come to Carlstadt and meet them," said Mangone. "It moved me as well. They opened up to her about the most personal things, things that I never knew about them."

Mangone said he tried to convey Mattie’s message of destruction and construction to his students. He said the same emotions that can be used to beat a person down could be turned around and used to lift a person up.

"It [Mattie’s writing] was inspirational, it helped millions of people," said Morton, who is in sixth-grade and in the middle of reading Stepanek’s second book. "With problems, he shows you that you can talk about it, cry about it; just show emotions instead of bottling it up."

For Hollenbeck, now in eighth grade, she said she’s going to hold what Mattie taught her through his writing close to her heart for a lifetime. When she has kids she said, she will read his poems to them.

"Looking at what he did and what he was able to overcome, it helped me decide better what to do in serious situations," she said. "I think with all the publicity he’s gotten, he was just so humble. I don’t think the publicity mattered to him, I think he just wanted to get the message out."

In response to the students’ letters to Jeni, she visited Carlstadt on May 22. Unbeknownst to her, a photo of her son and a commemoration plaque was unveiled on the library wall. According to the youngsters who met her, however, Jeni was more interested in the students. She responded to their letters and told them how to overcome problems and think positively.. She left a box behind for Mr. Mangone and the students called the Be a Peacemaker box, one of a handful Stepanek disseminated. Oprah, Jimmy Carter and Maya Angelou each have one. The box is filled with messages of inspiration written by Mattie. If students are having a bad day or need an uplifting idea, they can open it for assistance. The students responded with a gift of gratitude, a handmade quilt spotted with messages of peace and hope.

So now, after five bestsellers, seven publications and a lifetime’s worth of worldwide inspiration, Mattie Stepanek’s picture and name graces "The Peace Library". It’s now a place where literature and a glimmering face of hope collide to leave a lingering reminder of the good this world has and is capable of having through the ones who grace it.