Apathy Jack writes:

wats this about u passing a book 2 me
Special Topics in Calamity Physics – just something to exercise your brain. Also, Tricia said she’d beaten you to some of the good library books recently, so I offered to pass on some books that were more your speed than hers.
Yes, damn tricia and that idiot library. Thanks 4 the favour. And i loved that book notes from the underground, its like that guy knew me in another life. If that makes sense. But that was big 4 me.
I’m pleased you liked it – it sums up a lot of my (and, as it happens, The Creator’s) perspectives. And I like giving people books – expect more.
Yay – 4 making me read good books and because i feel smart because u and the creator hav sum same thoughts as me.
That’s not necessarily good news – it means you might grow up to be like us...
Oh, your not that bad... wait, i might have spoken 2 soon. Anyway: u will come back to Hoodrat nxt year.
I’m afraid that’s not how it works... I miss you guys more than you know, but I don’t miss Hoodrat High, if you know what I mean.
I know. It’s just that our new teachers aren’t like u or the creator
Very few people are... I’ve heard encouraging things about one of the replacements, though...
Yeah, the one who’s my English teacher and form teacher is really great. I think she expects more from me, because she looked at my results. But shes really unrealistic with her expectations
I dunno – my expectations of you are pretty unrealistic, but I think you’ll live up to or exceed them.
You know, it really helps my self esteem wen u say stuff like that. As well as making me panic.
The first response is good. The second response is... acceptable.
Are you cynical or an optimist? I can never tell
I am both. I have almost no faith in humanity as a whole, but a lot of faith in individual humans. Have you ever read ‘Candide’?
No. Tell me about it.
18th Century philosophical satire of optimism. An optimist travels the world assuming things will turn out for the best, despite the unendingly horrible things that keep happening to him.
God, thats depressing.

...

Just in case you missed the moral of that: I got a sixteen year old to read Dostoyevsky’s Notes From Underground, and interested in Voltaire’s Candide.

I Win at Teaching.