amazingly horrible books

nowadays, everywhere you look you see writing. everywhere! (with the exceptions of the sahara desert, the sinai peninsula, Antarctica, my toilet bowl, and other relatively uninhabited areas.) some of this writing is very good, such as interesting novels and signs that say "Warning! Quicksand Ahead!" some written works are boring but informative, like my science textbook or manuals that explain how to re-attach a doll's head if it was accidentally decapitated by a guillotine or a scotch-tape dispenser. but certain written works should never have been written at all, and it is a shame that they exist.
what do i mean by this? well, have you ever read a book titled "Farewell to Manzanar?" if you have, i'm assuming it's because you were forced to. nobody in his right mind would voluntarily read a book like that. i cannot understand how it managed to get published.
another book of this sort is titled "Heidi." i do not know the author's name, nor do i particularly care. i was forced to read this disgrace many years ago. the book contained about 400 pages, yet i can summarize the entire plot in one short paragraph:
Once upon a time, a little girl named Heidi was sent to live with her grandfather, whom she didn't like at all. after a while, she was taken to live somewhere else, where she became homesick and realized that she did like her grandfather after all. she was sent back to her grandfather, and they lived happily ever after. the end.
that's it. that is the ENTIRE BOOK!!!! why, pray tell, did that book contain 400 pages? and why is it considered a "classic"? why is it so famous? am i missing something here? that book bored me nearly to tears. i probably wouldn't read it again if you payed me.
how do certain authors come up with such horrifyingly dull plots? i have yet to meet a child who actually enjoyed reading"farewell to manzanar". and why is it that these horrible books seem to be the only ones that our schools force us to read? why can't we read (dare i even say it?) an interesting story? a book that at least some of the students might enjoy?
i don't know why, but for some reason i have a feeling that they're doing this on purpose, just to torture us.
seriously, how did these books get published? and why are they always on schools' required reading lists?
Here's the funniest thing of all: do you know what happens to all those incredibly dull books that no child would ever even think about reading voluntarily?
They get the Newberry Honor awards, of course!