Honestly, this kind of thing probably would be great if it was taught with a listing of books that the kid can choose from, and do a self-guided exploration of a text that interests them. I had a high school English teacher do that, and I chose Slaughterhouse-Five, which I ended up really loving.

I read Great Expectations as a freshman in high school, then again as a sophomore in college. It was MUCH a more enjoyable as a more mature person who could be trusted to learn about the social context of the time it was written in, talk about sexuality and gender relations in class, and appreciate some of the dark humor in it. I think it’s a great example of a book that commonly gets taught to kids who are too young to really appreciate it, and the public school setting also muzzles a lot of what’s interesting about it.