What is more of an issue here, the possibly representative reactions of a few students and teachers, or the whole process by which school readings are chosen? As a high school student, I really hated <i>A Separate Peace</i> and <i>Lord of the Flies</i>. I wondered, with all the great literature written just in the past century, why were we forced to read such downers? Why couldn't they choose novels that made more students enjoy reading? If you would ask me what I'd recommend instead, off the top of my head, I'd suggest anything by John Steinbeck, for example.