Using the pocket classics can be a painless way to introduce the classics to eighth-grade students. Condensed versions of the classics can take the sting out of the reading, stimulate students' interest, and help prepare them for high school. To offer students in one eighth-grade class some control over their own learning, a contract system was used in which each student agreed to the amount of work they were willing to do over the 3-week period. A day's lesson consisted of a short biographical sketch about a classical author, and then silent reading. Once a week an excerpt of a classical film was shown. Additional exposure to the classics can be planned at Halloween (reading horror stories by Edgar Allen Poe) or in conjunction with other units (producing a radio play version of Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days" to accompany a unit on the history of flight). After studying classical mysteries (Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, or those by Edgar Allen Poe), students can write their own mini-mysteries. Using some imagination, material for a classical unit is everywhere. Students are enthusiastic, derive a sense of accomplishment, and sometimes find the dilemmas of their own lives reflected in the classics. (SR)