Actually nearly all of the required reading I was assigned throughout middle and high school was pretty horrible.
Nearly every book we had to read was either depressing, guilt inducing or childish. Whatever was any good was ruined by the "Read one chapter a week and then answer this detailed test" method of teaching.
Meanwhile I'm twelve and busy plowing through my mom's Stephen King collection, my Dad's cold war spy thrillers and any sci-fi, fantasy, or horror I could get my hands on.