Battle over books in Virginia Beach now targets Barnes & Noble, Amazon. And it’s making its way through circuit court.

At the request of a congressional candidate, a Virginia Beach Circuit Court judge has found probable cause that two books that can be found in school libraries in the city are obscene. Now the candidate is asking the court to restrict access to the books in privately owned bookstores.

One is “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, which the Virginia Beach Public School Board recently directed schools to remove from library shelves because of a similar determination. The other title is “A Court of Mist and Fury,” by Sarah J. Maas.

According to an April 28 petition filed by Virginia Beach attorney and State Delegate Tim Anderson, both books can be found in school libraries. The petitioner is Tommy Altman, a Virginia Beach resident and a candidate for Republican nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria in the 2nd District.

Altman’s petitions indicate the titles are “sold and distributed in Hampton Roads through Barnes and Nobel (sic) and through Amazon with home delivery to Virginia Beach residents.”

Following the circuit court’s Wednesday order to show cause issued by Judge Pamela Baskervill, Altman took to Twitter, describing the court’s finding as “a big step in the right direction.” According to the order to show cause, the publishers for both books have 21 days to respond to the allegation that the contents are “obscene,” potentially to avoid a formal decision from the court on the matter. These publishers are Bloomsbury Publishing and Lion Forge LLC.

The petitions detail not just how the books are distributed and available to minors in Hampton Roads, but also gives examples of content alleged to be obscene, including excerpts and illustrations.

A motion for a temporary restraining order to prohibit selling or lending either title to minors was filed with the circuit court Wednesday. For a “A Court of Mist and Fury,” the motion states requests stopping “the sale or distribution to minors by any person who publishes, sells, rents, lends, transports in intrastate commerce or commercially distributes or exhibits the book...”

“We specifically went after Barnes and Noble because both of the books were purchased at the local Barnes and Noble right here in Virginia Beach,” Anderson said in a Facebook Live video Thursday morning as he showed a receipt. “So we got the books at there and there’s no restrictions against purchasing these books.”

Altman said an in interview he hopes the court’s action prompts change to what children have unrestricted access to.

“This is not about book banning,” he said. “It’s about restoring parental rights.”

He emphasized that it is a parent’s right to choose what their children are exposed to, and that distributors like Barnes and Noble should do “the responsible thing” by restricting access to inappropriate content, similar to how children can’t get into rated R movies.

He adds that he does not believe “Gender Queer” and “A Court of Mist and Fury” are “even the worst titles,” but he hopes this court finding is enough for the school division, the community and distributers.

“Hopefully we don’t have go any further than that,” Altman said.

“Gender Queer” has already been reviewed by the Virginia Beach School Board and has instructed the book to be taken out of the division’s libraries after a work group determined it contained “pervasively vulgar” content, referring to illustrations depicting “genitalia, bodily functions and sexual acts.”

“Gender Queer” and other titles have been scrutinized within the Virginia Beach public schools since last year when board members Victoria Manning and Laura Hughes brought complaints regarding the books’ content.

Recently, Chairwoman Carolyn Rye said in a statement that the division’s policies and regulations concerning complaints about controversial materials are up for review.

No comment on the court findings was provided by the division.

Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com