Editorial Director of Candlewick Press defends Mackler.

I love reading essays like this.  They just give me the warm fuzzies.

From the Baltimore Sun:

Ms. Mackler believes, as I do, that you can trust teens to choose books that are right for them. Mr. Ecker thinks kids need to be protected from books that - well, what, exactly? What might a humorous novel about a 15-year-old girl struggling with issues of weight and self-esteem actually lead someone to do? Well, if you ask teen girls - and let's face it, few teen boys will be caught dead reading a book with that title - the book has made them think and take positive action.

Many teens have written to Ms. Mackler, thanking her for writing a book that helped them in their daily lives. One girl states that the book helped her talk to her parents about her encroaching bulimia; another that "reading your book reminded me that it was not just me suffering." And following Mr. Ecker's actions, the teens at Winters Mill High School have raised a petition to restore the book to their library shelves.