Review of “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman,” by Adrienne Kress

“Alex and the Ironic Gentleman,” by Adrienne Kress is a mesmerizing adventure story about a young heroine on a mission to save her sixth grade teacher from a group of deadly pirates.

Alex is a ten-and-a-half year old girl who attends the Wigpowder-Steele Academy, a prestigious institution noteworthy for its stuffy personalities and ancient teachers. Needless to say Alex doesn’t exactly enjoy attending school, that is, until her class gets a new teacher. Mr. Underwood knows how to teach lessons in a way that makes them interesting, and he always answers the student’s questions. Not only that, but for P.E. he teaches the students how to fence!

But Mr. Underwood is more than a sixth grade teacher; he’s also the sole remaining heir to a mysterious pirate treasure hidden decades ago. The only problem is, no one knows where the treasure map is, and what’s more a rival group of pirates from the infamous ship “The Ironic Gentleman” are still searching for the treasure after all these years. When Mr. Underwood is kidnapped, and Alex’s father is found dead, she is sets out on a journey to rescue Mr. Underwood from the pirates that have taken him.

Adrienne Kress has created a magical and mysterious world. The characters are sometimes dark, sometimes humorous, but all unique. The world in “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman” is a mixture of the modern world and the world of a few centuries ago. On the one hand people have laptops and household appliances intelligent enough to talk, but they still fight with broadswords and ride steam powered trains. This intriguing mixture gives the story a truly dreamlike appeal, and it was one aspect that I truly enjoyed.

Another point that I liked about “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman” is that is wasn’t just an adventure. The journey that Alex embarks upon takes her through a world of deeper meaning and strange encounters that are thrilling and dreamlike. The Lewis Carroll imagery and philosophical aspects of “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman” will probably be missed by young readers, but I could see many hidden meanings, satirical passages, and ideas that were well worth reading. In my opinion the best part of “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman” is Alex’s journey to find the pirate ship. It is during this portion of the book that most of the adventure takes place, just as is this case with the character Alice, in “Alice in Wonderland.” Unfortunately, the concluding portions of “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman” seem slightly dull and even a little rushed after the deliberate and surprising encounters that Alex experiences on her way to save Mr. Underwood. However, “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman” is still a marvelous book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would recommend it to any young reader.

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