I just started teaching ninth grade English, and the district's curriculum for that level includes primarily classic British literature. Frankly, most high school freshmen are neither awed nor amused by Ivanhoe and David Copperfield. I've already plodded through several of the Sherlock Holmes stories and Romeo and Juliet and it hasn't been pretty. I'm considering using the Classic Comics version of Ivanhoe to teach my developmental English students. I guess I'm just looking for ideas or suggestions on how to convince the students that "classic" doesn't mean "stuff" (to coin a favorite ninth grade word) that old people read.