MORE ON KING & KING: From the Wilmington Star-News

For 7-year-old Jake Widener, it's OK for young children to read King & King, a book that ends with a gay marriage.

"It was a good book because there are some people out there in the world that are gay," he said. "It's good to respect people and their opinions. It's OK to be gay."

Jake, a second-grader at the Cape Fear Center for Inquiry, was one of several children and parents who participated in a discussion Wednesday about the controversial book. The Star-News invited parents and children to review the book to provide a broader perspective to readers.

The controversy exploded a few weeks ago after a couple complained when their 7-year-old daughter brought home the book from Freeman Elementary School. A school committee voted 8-3 last week to put the book under lock and key so only adults, including parents and teachers, can check it out. ...

Ms. Batson said the only part she didn't necessarily agree with was when the queen states that she had been married twice by the time she was her son's age. Her comments seemed to trivialize marriage, she said.

But she said a lot of families, including her own, must deal with divorce.

Logan Graffius, 10, said he didn't see anything abnormal about the book.

He said it seemed like the kind of book children would want to read. ...

In general, the parents and children said the school committee made the right decision given the circumstances, but they also noted that they wouldn't have a problem with keeping the book in the school library.

"It's an acceptable compromise," Ms. Graffius said. "But there's nothing radical about the book."

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