Need Recommendations for 10 year old
 

I have a 10 year old son that is a voracious reader and reads on a college sophomore level right now. I am having a hard time finding books that are appropriate within reason as far as content goes but on his academic level because I don't have time to read them all before he does!! I was wondering if anyone here could make some recommendations of either a website that perhaps rated(?) books as far as content goes or books that they could recall would be okay for him to read. He enjoys Harry Potter(of course), he has read some John Grisham, and some Michael Crichton, and Ian Fleming(James Bond)

Thanks for your help!!!

When I was 10, I really enjoyed "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." It was my favorite book at that time. There's some mild sexuality in some of the later books, but overall it's pretty tame.

The Xanth series by Piers Anthony would be good.

Also, The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In addition, you might try the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.

The Pern Series is pretty good, by Anne McCaffrey.

Finally, there is the Wheel of Time series, by Robert Jordan (violence.)

I second "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy." That's one wonderfully funny book. You can now buy a large hardcover version (815 pages) that includes six of Douglas Adams' stories. Including the complete Hitchhikers trilogy, and some of his other sci-fi stories. I picked it up for $14.99.

Also, if he hasn't already read them, the Harry Potter books are about as good as it gets. They're an easy read, but the story and characters are so mesmerizing, it doesn't matter what reading level he's at.

Another one to consider is Artemis Fowl. While these books aren't up to the level of the Harry Potter books, they're still fun and offer a lot of techno gadgetry to satisfy young boys.

Ender's Game by Olsen Scott Card (???) is a great book. IIRC the kid in the book is about 10 so your son may get a kick out of that.

I second the Xanth series. I hated reading when I was a kid, and someone recommended the series to my mom for me to read. After that she spent many a night trying to force me to go to bed instead of staying up all night reading.

Here are a few sites that might help:
http://www.chinaberry.com/showmusing.cfm?ID=53
http://www.eagerreaders.com/cgi-bin/...evel=A&state=0
http://www.gtworld.org/gtbook.htm
http://www.gtworld.org/gtbook2.htm

Most of the books on these lists are still what I would term children's/young adult books, so they still might not be all the way up to his reading level, but they should have enough complexity and intellectualness to still interest him.

In addition, as a general recommendation, I would look to older books (i.e., early 20th century and before), as they tend to stay away from or treat more delicately "objectional" content like sex and violence but reach depths that a lot of modern fiction might not. So, for example, if he likes adventures you might give him some Jules Verne or Robert Louis Stevenson. If he can handle (fairly non-graphic) horror, look into Victorian Gothic stuff. If he likes mysteries get him a collection of Sherlock Holmes. Charles Dickens, HG Wells, Mark Twain... There's tons of great stuff out there.

Ursula K. LeGuin's stuff is great. The Earthsea series is wonderful.

Then there's Philip Pullman's "Dark Materials" trilogy.

I would think Dune would be appropriate for him... I would also suggest Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. If he is a Star Wars fan the Timothy Zahn trilogy is pretty good.

Dune can be really tough- I had a hard time getting a grip on some of the ideas Frank Herbert is putting out.

The Once and Future King would be a good choice too.

- Lemony Snicket "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books
- a second vote for the Artemis Fowl series
- a hearty recommendation for Philip Pullman's "Dark Materials" trilogy (stunning stuff, really!)

lsdptl mentioned that his son reads on a college sophmore reading level so I think it would be understood.

Judgement call, but Frank Herbert's stuff is pretty complex, especially later on. He's going to have to be a really sophisticated 10yr old to take it all in- hell, I couldn't get a grip on LotR untill I was in my early 20s. There is also some very adult material in there, and it wasn't specified whether that kind of thing would be OK.

The reason why I recommended T.H. White's Once and Future King is that he puts forth many similar ideas about government and civilization, and it's easier to digest.

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques is also very good.

I second the idea of classic literature. Have him read Don Quixote or Les Miserables, or some of the Musketeer adventures.

I think around that age I enjoyed William Sleator's Interstellar Pig. I also highly recommend all 5 books in the increasingly innaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy.

There are some classics that he'll likely be reading in middle and high school which he may also enjoy:

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence by Robert M. Pirsig
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Watership Down by Richard Adams

classics with content possibly too much for a 10 yr old:
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I think that about summarizes all of the things I read or tried to read from every summer reading list I ever had. :)