Sophie's World

Sophie's World is a novel about the history of philosophy. Currently I am about halfway through it. It seems like a great textbook for high school philosophy  because two of it's main characters are of high school age. I think it would also be a benefit that the philosophy taught in it is interspersed with an interesting (not to mention somewhat philosophical) storyline to keep students attentive.
It does have some serious failings (especially in depth of investigation)  but that will be for a further post. I hope to give a more complete review of this book later on.

For the mean time here are some other materials about the book.

 I found this review very interseting.
From amazon reviews:
 I read through quite a few of the reviews here before writing my own, and was kind of surprised at what I read. I think I read Sophie's World through far different eyes than most of the people who posted reviews. I'm a 16 year old high school sophmore who's familiarity to philosophy is limited to what material I can borrow from my school library, not what I was taught at an expensive college. Sophie's World is delightful for it's purpose: to introduce people to the basics of philosophy and apply it to a fictional situation. Gaarder suceeds wonderfully in doing that.....

What the world needs is a clear concise history of philosophy that helps HUMAN BEINGS understand philosophy without having to spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. Sophie's World is that book, not just another overanalysis of Kierkegaard or Sartre which might as well be written in Latin, because God knows most people wouldn't understand a word of it. Sophie's World is a book for PEOPLE who want to understand the world of philosophy, not a bunch of stuck-up intellectuals who think that only a select few should be able to enjoy such information. Yes, for people who know everything, this book would probably be a bore, but for your 99% percent of the country; this book would be a gem, and it is.

http://www.amazon.com/Sophies-World-Novel-History-Philosophy/dp/0425152251

Wikipedia:

Sophie Amundsen (Sofie Amundsen in the Norwegian version) is a fourteen year old girl living in Norway in 1990...

The book begins with Sophie receiving two anonymous messages in her mailbox (Who are you? Where does the world come from?), as well as a post card addressed to 'Hilde Møller Knag, c/oSophie Amundsen'. Shortly afterwards she receives a packet of papers, part of a correspondence course in philosophy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie's_World