Was Tom Sawyer in the Gifted and Talented Class?

Well, the glowing has stopped. At least I can't see it anymore in this light. However, last night as I finished reading Tom Sawyer to the boys I could see a flash from my fingers every so often as I would turn the page. It was misguided of me to think I could actually read from the light because I hold the book in my lap and it would not have been ergonomically feasible for me to hold my hand akimbo and thus have the light shine down on the page. The boys really enjoyed Tom Sawyer, though, and we're all a bit sad to see it end. I had forgotten myself how much I liked Tom. For many years now I've been able to recall the opening lines: "Tom!" No answer. "Tom!" Still no answer. "You, Tom . . . "
We laughed when Tom figured out how to get the fence whitewashed, shivered when he and Huck saw Injun Joe kill old Hoss, and chuckled when the judge asked Tom if he had company in the graveyard that night. "Only a dead cat," was his reply. And everpresent was Mark Twain himself, reminiscing about boyhood, reliving his own childhood, and making quiet comments that only the parent reader would pick up. I think it must have been at least 30 years since I read Tom Sawyer last, so I never caught on before to his asides.
Now what shall we read? We're kind of in the middle of the Whangdoodle book, for the third time, so I guess we'll finish that. But then what? Maybe we'll start Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett or have an interlude with Joan Aiken's Arabel and Mortimer---a perpetual favorite. I'd like to find a real winner, something that engages each boy. Thankfully my position as Children's Librarian gives me access to a multitude of intruiging stories. But I still wonder if the books appeal to each child. I'm a little afraid my youngest is given short shrift sometimes. He did choose the Whangdoodle book, though.
What is the treasure for today? I think I can count our finishing Tom Sawyer, as I mentioned above, and the wonderful conversation we had before the boys fell asleep. My oldest talked about how his experience in a regular classroom has given him much more courtesy and discipline than his classmates who have only been in the gifted and talented classroom have had. We talked about how talent and ability do not mean a person should have privilege over another, but how those things give more responsibility. He is turning into a fine young man who feels strongly about justice and kindness and appropriate conduct. In fact, we have laughed a lot at his stories of the boy who starts to cry when he can't tag people at recess, or the boy who talks so much in class that the teacher gave the kids at his table permission to shush him when he jabbers on and on. My children and our experiences together are the finest treasures in my life right now.