I really like nineteenth century novels. My students, as a group, don't. Interesting split, the teacher favoring the material and the students disliking it (some even loathing it). But I think the point is that the books merit a view, they deserve a read, and some are actually pretty good. That said, it is still an uphill battle to get students to engage with the older texts, and even more of a challenge to get them to really appreciate those books that the canon deems "classics." It is possible, just hard.

I have no words of wisdom beyond the fact that kids should engage with challenging texts of all genre, and should be expected to synthesize those texts so they can use them at a later point in their educations and lives. No profundity. No earth shattering revelation. Just the bland, unromantic truth.