Tragic books in elementary school?

In my memory of 4th grade it seems like my class read some tragic books: Island of the Blue Dolphins Where the Red Fern Grows Tuck Everlasting The Pearl All Quiet on the Western Front Do other people think these are all as tragic as I remember? Did other people read a big number of tragic books in one class in elementary school? Anyone know reasons for a teacher doing this? I should maybe ask my teacher too, Mrs Lilliedoll who also happened to be my neighbor across the back fence at the time. submitted by /