This book is quite basic, and could be profitably used by high school students or anyone without a knowledge of economics. It hits many of the basic topics in economics, such as marginal utility, supply and demand, and money. It is from the Austrian perspective, so it could save a high schooler from years of unlearning. The only drawback is that although it contains many useful study questions, it doesn't include the answers (nor is there, from what I can tell, a teacher's guide).
Dr. David Gordon is associated with the Ludwig von Mises Institute, the nation's premier free enterprise think tank. The Institute has published another work - ECONOMICS FOR REAL PEOPLE by Gene Callahan - that is more advanced and would make an excellent follow-up work.
This book is definitely the way out. It has everything a beginner's textbook is asking for. Witty writing, step-by-step explanations, practical examples. By the way you understand what is meant with concepts and theories economists use to explain to us why a certain policy should be pursued or abolished, like the labor theory of value, price controls, minimum wages, and different currency systems. And before you know you understand what is behind the arguments of current policy issues, what are the true and the false arguments, misleading paths, right or wrong theories behind them.
The author is not soft on the issues, but uses logical reasoning and explains in every step the possible fallacies. In the end - if one likes it or not - one has to follow his cogent conclusions about the way markets work in a free society and how government intervention affects those outcomes.