When our son was that age, we got him a specialized vita, size and fit were great for him. He rode the bike about 2000 km in one season, including a 500 km sagged tour with us.
when he outgrew it, a bike shop swap had an older Japanese road bike, also fit him well. It was $90, replaced the tires and brake pads - it had down tube shifters, which took him a couple days to get comfortable with. Among the four bikes he's had, I think that was his favorite - about a season and a half before he outgrew it. He is riding a cx bike now, but wanted a steel frame bike with "lever shifters".