Too much of harry potter, percy jackson, Artemis fowl making DS aggresive

If my 10yo wanted to read books id be happy.

Like someone else said, you're making him aggressive. Not the books.

How the hell could Harry Potter make anyone aggressive?

I'm an English teacher... I LOVE Harry Potter.

The most important thing about reading is that he does it. He has a love of reading and you are running the risk of destroying that by pushing him to read books YOU haven't read yourself! If you want to steer his reading then you really ought to at least have an understanding of what you are steering him towards.

Those are all quite action packed (in an accessible way) too, which probably makes the classics seem harder work in comparison.

I did read a bigger mix at that age because those series were only just being written, but it's the summer holidays, leave him to it for a bit! I used to re-read things like Animal Ark a lot which are much less grown up.

Even as an adult there is nothing more tiresome than 'you really need to read X, why aren't you reading X?!'

I was a quiet bookish 10yo girl and I loved Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl. Enjoy it, treasure it, because I do not think I will ever get as enthusiastic about anything as I did when I was 10.

Young ones definitely aimed at children.
I suggested the abridged Holmes as the OP seems concerned about violence.

Oh, and DD who is 10 mostly reads Jacqueline Wilson. She reads some classics (recently Five Children and It and What Katy Did, but only because JW wrote stories based on them). She enjoyed Black Beauty, hated Alice in Wonderland.

She doesn't get as obsessive about books as DS2 did at her age, but I am probably more chilled out about what she reads. As others have said a love of reading is more important than reading the "right" books.

My son's 11+ English exam was loosely based on an opening paragraph of Swallows and Amazones which his dad read to him.
My kids read all thise books you've mentioned OP and reading never interfered with their studies. It enhanced it.
They both passed 11+ to selective Grammar schools.
I wonder how many hours of study do you expect your son to do this Summer.
I suspect he is rebelling against that and as it happens reading is his hobby. It could have been football, cricket or anything else.

Sorry Doctor that wasn't meant to sound like I disagreed with you - just that they're not as inappropriate as some other classics!

Are the young ones good? Is it worth me reading them (I like a good mystery), or are they definitely for children?

I was reading Sherlock Holmes (but probably the short stories) at that age, I wouldn't worry too much... He might not understand everything but he can always re-visit them later!

I have a nice illustrated compendium of short Shakespeare (written as stories rather than plays). I'll look later to see who published it.

Holmes is aimed at grown ups. Search young Sherlock Holmes and you'll find full stories for younger (not by Conan Doyle). Various publishers do abridged versions. Puffin might.

Leon Garfield writes stories based on Shakespeare plays

I get what you are saying about the obsessiveness - DS2 has always been like this (he is now 12). I never thought I would despair because my child wouldn't put a book down, but at times I have!

As I say, he is 12 now and has grown out of the Harry Potter, LOTR etc obsession. He will still re-read books that he loves (he has read Curious Incident of the dog in the Night Time at least 3 times this year) but he doesn't get quite so wound up about them. His reading tastes are also broadening. He is currently reading 12 Years a Slave, which he found in the library and I probably wouldn't have picked off the shelf for him. But he is 12 and chooses what he wants to read himself.

When I was his age I read everything from Flowers in the Attic to Wuthering Heights. It is about finding out who you are and what you enjoy.

Well, in the school I teach in, Artimus Fowl is a Y7 reader and the first Skulduggery Pleasant Y8, both chosen to get them reading for pleasure! I would second Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, beautifully written, and Phillip Reeves. You should be so proud of your son reading for pleasure. If the books enliven his imagination that is fabulous! If you want him to look at more 'traditional' books he might enjoy Geoffrey Trease or Swallows and Amazons but if he doesn't want to persevere don't see it as a problem - I also enjoy re-reading Harry P! As does my DD1 who is a, very overworked, junior doctor and spent last week lying by a pool reading Deathly Hallows!

If he's reading enthusiastically and borrowing from both school and local library then that's fine!

Reading should primarily be for fun.

I read most of the classics as a child but didn't really understand them (even though I could read them if you see what I mean)

I retread them all as a teenagers and it was like reading a whole new set of books. Being able to read the words isn't the same as being able to understand the themes or nuances.

If you are concerned that his reading is narrow why not go together to the library and ask the librarian for some recommendations - they love to help.

Classics are boring, there, i've said it. You think Harry Potter is crappy/useless? I think they are perfect reading material for a 10yo.

The reading test on our 11 plus has had some Dickens (Bleak House) a few years ago. But has also used very up to date stuff. I think it would be best to separate reading for pleasure from comprehension unless he expresses an interest in the text the extract comes from.

I have this one for my pupils
www.amazon.co.uk/Pre-twentieth-Century-Short-Stories-Literature/dp/0340737425#immersive-view_1471012803847

Op you may also want to refer to them as classics not classicals (not dismissing your command of English here as it is excellent) but in literary terms they are classics.

Let him enjoy reading - the new GCSE will ask for his reading of pre-20th Century reading but will be short extracts - perhaps get him a short story book ?

Yes, but the point of comprehension is that you can read and understand an unknown text

We did actually do some Dickens at prep school, but it was abridged and then some extracts from the original.

Why are you giving him comprehension?! For god's sake, just let him enjoy books!!

Also Michael Grant's 'the gone' series, the Girl With All the Gifts and Jon Mayhew's Mortloxk series would be great for him.

I am sure you were aware of the plot of Oliver Twist though? Young boy joins gang of thieves, makes friends with a young prostitute whose boyfriend murders her then kidnaps the young boy? No wonder he enjoyed it!

You've had lots of suggstions, I'd second Philip Pullman, and would add Jonathan Stroud, and Michael Morpurgo.
For depth of knowledge, and particularly if he enjoys Percy Jackson, can I suggest that you find some books on ancient Greece, maybe a children's version of the Iliad and the Odessy. There are fantastic illustrated versions of stories like Jason and the Argonauts, Theseus and the Minotaur, Perseus and Medusa. These old tales are referenced in Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, so he'll make the links.