I don't recall ever being assigned any Charles Dickens in school. We were assigned things like the Chronicles of Narnia, 1984, Watership Down, and The Hobbit. (I went to a Christian school.) I've always been an avid reader, and didn't 'instantly fight' assigned reading. I always thought "Hey, now I can read this for class, and not lose my own free time over another book I already wanted to read." HOWEVER, I hated reading Shakespeare. It was so dry and hard to understand. The teacher tried having us act out the plays to help us better understand them, but we were crap, and I never tried to read Shakespeare after that. (Like others, we got Shakespeare in 9th grade) UNTIL...I went to see the Shakespeare by the Sea troupe in San Pedro put on Romeo & Juliet (pretty good), and Twelfth Night (outstanding due to the actor cast as Malvolio -- his name is Patrick Vest. Find him.) That experience alone got me interested in Shakespeare. http://shakespearebythesea.org - they're doing Romeo & Juliet, and Two Gentlemen of Verona RIGHT now, until August. You should check them out if you can.

Hope you have a great con! And as someone who's caught con crud a few times over the years, I totally understand the no-touching thing.