yeah at the time we thought amazing things were in space...until we realized that there s either nothing there, or threats for mankind.

to answer the question... i don't know. i read a lot of books when i was younger. a lot of books i like today i wouldn't have been able to "get" as a kid, since they deal with stuff i knew nothing about. that didn't stop me from reading tons of "literature" and having crazy ass ideas about "the point" of books (lol).
i remember reading kafka's "the castle" in 9th(?) grade; this is a great way to induce mad hallucinations in a kid.