my kid is bugging me reading wise...

I'll trade you sons. Mine doesn't want to read at all.

What books are on his list? He still has to stay on list, doesn't he?

Take him to the library and bookstore, and let him pick his own books. As far as "appropriate" goes, it's unlikely any adventure books he would pick up would be truly inappropriate for a 10-y-o, ditto with non-fiction.

By the time my kids were that age, they were going to the library every other week and choosing their own books. I didn't guide their reading at all. Now I have a 20-y-o who's reading theological books (whilst studying music) and a 23-y-o who's completing his degree in English lit.

But if you want specific suggestions...




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The Hobbit and LotR.

They're fantasy, but also adventure, which is why they appeal to such a wide audience.

Some more specifics, since my early reading is coming back to me:

The Kon-Tiki Expedition
The Swiss Family Robinson
Lost in the Barrens
The Egypt Game

I'll be back if I think up more.

We went by our son's list and we picked up "Watership Down," "Gulliver's Travels," "Swiss Family Robinson," "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," "Around the World in 80 Days," "Fahrenheit 451," "Treasure Island," "War of the Worlds,' and several Jack London books like "Call of the Wild," and "White Fang."

They all ended up sitting on my bookshelf.

But most books fall within the 7th and 8th grade reading level anyway.

I would also suggest the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. The first one is called The Lightening Thief- excellent series- a lot of action adventure with a twist of greek mythology thrown in- trust me- he'll love it!

If he likes non-fic and adventure you might consider Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, which chronicles an ill-fated ascent of Mt. Everest.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing is about a legendary 1912 Antarctic expedition.

DEFINITELY "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow. This book is a YA modern adventure, and it is so the bomb. There is one scene of adult content that I think the average ten year old would skip over.
And DEFINITELY 'Where the Red Fern Grows.' I haven't read it probably 15 years and I still get chills thinking about it. At some point in school, my entire class was obsessed with this book. It's very much a 'boy' adventure book, but guaranteed to make the toughest tough guy cry.
When I was that age (and an advanced reader) I was really into Jurassic Park, The Lost World, and Congo, by Michael Crichton. There's nothing too inappropriate in these.
"The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay is an amazing historical coming-of-age story set South Africa. Its an AMAZING book and I think it would really appeal to a little boy. It teeters somewhere between YA and adult. There is some fighting in it, but nothing too bad. If someone gave it to me in fifth grade, I would have loved it until it fell apart.
Robert Heinlein wrote a handful of young adult books that are heavy on space adventure.
A Wrinkle in Time and assorted sequels, by Madeleine L'Engle are good intellectual adventures for smartypants kids. Advanced MG
The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin-high MG
Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen is a smart YA eco-adventure
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
some survival-type adventure for kids:
Anything by Gary Paulsen, especially 'Hatchet' is totally riveting MG/YA.
My Side of the Mountain, and assorted sequels Jean Craighead George-advanced MG
The Cay, by Theodore Taylor-MG

Oh my gosh! Making this list makes me want to go back and reread all these books I have tender memories of! I must go to the library! I hope your son finds lots of good books to hook him on a lifetime of reading.

Kitty Pryde said:

Oh my gosh! Making this list makes me want to go back and reread all these books I have tender memories of! I must go to the library! I hope your son finds lots of good books to hook him on a lifetime of reading.

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I just got back from the library. The Children's section of the library.

I was going to make a comprehensive list of some books that I've read that might suit, but SF and Kitty have done it for me. A few I can think of that they haven't listed:

The Incredible Journey
The Dark is Rising (series, but the titular novel is the best, IMO)
Bridge to Terebithia
The Outsiders (a bit of a mature theme--you might want to look at it first)
The Sword in the Stone
Artemis Fowl
Holes
Call it Courage
The Black Stallion (see note for The Dark is Rising)
The Golden Compass (again, you might want to read this one first)

I second or third or fourth or whatever Where the Red Fern Grows.

Sounds like your kid has the same general interests I did when I was his age...

Survive the Savage Sea is the story of a family whose sailboat is sunk by some whales. They survive on a couple of little liferafts for like 2 months!

Incident at Hawk's Hill is based on a true story of a boy who lives with a badger for a while! (Warning: tearjerker)

Also there's Hatchet (I hate this book but might be up your son's alley) and Island of the Blue Dolphins. If he likes animals and icky stuff he should try James Herriot - a vet in the English countryside.

When I was his age and wanted adventure, I tended to raid the biographies and the historical fictions.

Sam Houston (along with the settling of Texas)
Davy Crockett (and anyone associated with the Alamo)
Harriet Tubman (and the Underground Railroad)

These were some of my favorites.

Maryn said:

Bakker, Robert T.: Raptor Red. A fictionalization of the life of a dinosaur. I read it aloud to my kids; we all liked it. Each kid later bought his/her own copy.

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I enjoyed this one a lot. Robert Bakker is a REAL paleontologiest and the story features many of his theories.