Well, the average IQ in Britain at least has fallen over the last 10 years, so pretty soon all books will be in the 16+ section.
I am not insulted as an adult because I'm not an adult. But then I'm not a 'child' in the sense of the age group children's books are aimed at either. I have no point here.
So... no, I don't think it's a good idea to let children read about incest and despair. But does it really matter? Children are growing up faster these days, maybe they can cope with the subject matter. However, I don't think they'll be able to cope with the language... after all, complete language acquisition is only at 10 years of age. An 11 year old isn't going to be able to deal with all the complex grammar and archaic vocabulary.
And even if they could, the book is too boring to interest them.
