Customer Reviews

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is sure to be a hit with fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Artemis Fowl and Children Of The Lamp. Imaginative and funny, action packed and exciting, this is a book that any child (and some adults) would want to read again and again.

Alex is an orphan, her parents having been involved in a tragic spelunking incident in Iceland. She lives with her Uncle, who owns a doorknob store on the side of a bridge, and she attends a fancy-schmancy school called The Wigpowder-Steele Academy.

It seems that the original Wigpowder was a very wealthy pirate, who entrusted the distribution of his spoils to a rich philanthropist named Steele by way of a treasure map. Over time, bitter family feuds and fencing duels, the location of the map was forgotten and new generations of Wigpowders and Steeles are still quite busy hunting for it. Sure enough, some very unpleasant gentlemen soon arrive in town, and before long the trouble begins.

The next chapters follow Alex on dangerous missions, including encounters with the dastardly Daughters of the Founding Fathers' Preservation Society, a train ride to nowhere in particular, and a hotel very much like the Hotel California (you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.) She also encounters fascinating characters like The Extremely Ginormous Octopus, Lord Poppinjay, the MakeCold 6000 and Coriander the Conjuror, and ingeniously named places like Port Cullis and The Gangrene Inn.

Her goal is to find the notorious Pirate Captain Steele and the ship Ironic Gentleman, and then hopefully successfully execute a rescue mission. Along the way she enlists the services of the noble and upright Captain Magnanimous and his ship HMS Valiant, and takes part in a nautical battle. As if all that weren't enough, there's a tricky riddle still to be solved, and treasure to be found.

Immensely entertaining and wonderfully creative, this one is highly recommended for readers of all ages.


Amanda Richards

Reading Adrienne Kress' Alex and the Ironic Gentleman is like plunging back into childhood. Like the first time I read
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Puffin Novels).

This is not hyperbole. Kress' narrative voice pulled me in and made me feel like I was riding next to Alex on her bike through the forest, dancing the Charleston on a mysterious train, and always, always searching for her missing teacher, Mr. Underwood. (That's Alex as in Alexandra, in case anyone is puzzled.) Kress' villains are creepy and just a little bit buffoonish, perfect for a Middle Grade book. Her pirates (Of course there are pirates. And sword fighting. And buried treasure.) are definitely not the good guys. The true heroes in this book are the unexpected ones.

On her quest to rescue Mr. Underwood, Alex's adventures run the gamut of "eww, gross!" to despair to excitement to joy. How gross? Locked in an old mansion and forced to give foot rubs to sinister old ladies who all have damp, smelly, squishy feet. How joyous? Sorry. I won't spoil the swashbuckling climax.

Alex is a modern girl in a modern world. One of the pirates uses a laptop to chronicle their history. The police station has a standard two-way mirror. And Alex attempts to convince one character that being a movie star is a good career move. Kress weaves sparkling fantasy seamlessly into this contemporary setting: the reluctant actor just happens to be the Extremely Ginormous Octopus. And every time Giggles the cat gave Alex a dirty look, I expected him to start talking..

Not much makes me feel like a kid again. Alex and the Ironic Gentleman did it by page five. Like one of those old movie trailers, I laughed, I cried, I wanted more.

I loved this book! It held my attention from beginning to end and I wasn't sure how that ending would happen. When it did, it was very satisfying. I'll definitely be reading more by Kress. Great book!

LOVED this one! Perfectly balanced, incredibly witty, packed full of terrific characters (adored that cat!)--just BRILLIANT! And from a first-time novelist?! We are in for great things from Ms. Kress! Thank you!

Many books for children have the same cast of characters and little twists to the story. ALEX AND THE IRONIC GENTLEMAN is really original. At times I found myself wondering where is this train headed. Alex is a strong female lead, but readers can easily forget whether Alex is a girl or a boy. This novel is worth reading just for the imaginative supporting characters. Action, mystery, strangers, pirates, what's not to love. Karen Woodworth-Roman, www.librarians.info

Generally I don't find it to be a good sign when you could take fully half of a book, shuffle the chapters around in random order, and end up with it making as much sense as the original. There's no real plot progression to speak of -- just a beginning, an ending, and a lot of padding in the middle.

I actually see a lot of elements of other children's books here. We have irritating villains making repeated appearances as though as a punchline, as in A Series of Unfortunate Events, but the Daughters aren't nearly as interesting as Count Olaf (or, in fact, interesting at all). We have some moments of Terry Pratchett-ish deconstruction, but they fall flat when so much else in the book is played with dire seriousness. And we have a by-the-numbers heroine who, after a very promising introduction, becomes interchangeable except for her (unimportant) gender with the hero of any boys' adventure novel.

I'm not sure what all the raves are about. This is really just a mediocre entry in an overpopulated genre.

I don't want you to misunderstand me, I did LIKE this book, but I did not love it in the manner that other reviewers did. This book surprised at every turn, it featured a Ginormous Octopus that talked, a train stuck in time, and a musical number all before we got to the pirates I had been promised. I will guess my problem was that I felt that our heroine Alex was largely unchanged by these side adventures and that they didn't really add anything to the adventure. Maybe next time they will. I'm hopeful

I had such fun reading this book. I adore children's books and this one is a keeper. Clever writing and great premise. The ending caught me by surprise.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I so much enjoyed this book. For one thing, I was happy to see an adventure book with a girl instead of a boy as the star - and what an appealing little heroine Alex is! She's resourceful and brave, of course, but she's also very sensible, which gets her out of more tight spots than her fighting skills. I also enjoyed the episodes Alex encounters on her quest to rescue Mr. Underwood. A couple of them made me laugh with delight (out loud) because they were just so unique and clever. Ms. Kress has a great imagination. There's one encounter in particular (with the hotel owner) that my daughter and I are still laughing about, weeks later. I also liked the way some gender stereotypes were bounced on their pretty little heads.

So why only four stars? Sadly, I thought the climax of the story was too much of a stretch - what happened just seemed way too convenient a resolution to the whole treasure hunt. After the buildup through the entire book, I thought we deserved more than to have some characters suddenly and with no explanation reappear to play a major role.

That didn't ruin the experience of the book for me, though. I liked the book enough to recommend it to my 10-year-old daughter. Now she has her own adventure role model instead of having to settle for Harry Potter or Percy Jackson!

Who would have thought that the arrival of a new sixth-grade teacher at prestigious Wigpowder-Steele Academy would mark the end of life as 10-and-a-half-year-old Alexandra (Alex) Morningside knows it? At first, Alex --- who lives a pleasant but quiet life with her uncle, a doorknob salesman --- is just pleased that Mr. Underwood, who is as passionate about fencing as about good grammar, seems to offer a breath of fresh air in comparison with the school's older teachers.

As Mr. Underwood strikes up a friendship with Alex's uncle, though, Alex discovers that there is more to this mild-mannered, bicycle-riding teacher than first appears. It turns out that Mr. Underwood is none other than the heir to the legendary fortune, acquired generations ago by the Infamous Wigpowder, a dreaded pirate. It also turns out that Mr. Underwood is in grave danger from the descendants of the Wigpowder clan's rival, the dread pirate Captain Steele the Inevitable.

When Steele's men take Mr. Underwood hostage and bury Alex's uncle under a crushing pile of his own doorknobs, Alex knows that it's up to her to find the treasure map, rescue Mr. Underwood and help him claim his rightful inheritance. Armed only with her wits, Alex sets off on the adventure of a lifetime, doggedly pursued at every step by the evil (and very, very determined) Daughters of the Founding Fathers' Preservation Society. Can Alex discover Mr. Underwood's whereabouts before it's too late? Will she herself heed the call of piracy and the open sea? Dozens of adventures --- and at least as many eccentric characters --- lie in wait as Alex starts off on her quest.

ALEX AND THE IRONIC GENTLEMAN is Adrienne Kress's debut novel, the first in a projected series. Written in an old-fashioned, tongue-in-cheek style (chapters are all subtitled "In which Alex...etc."), the narrative includes plenty of snarky commentary a la Lemony Snicket: "Alex was whisked back into the air, over the side of HMS Valiant, and onto the deck of the most notorious pirate ship this side of the equator. A ship whose crew was as ruthless as a person not named Ruth." Although these asides occasionally fall flat, they just as often succeed riotously, greatly adding to readers' enjoyment, particularly when read aloud.

Just as enjoyable is the extensive cast of secondary characters who people the novel --- or should I say "inhabit," since several of them, including the Extremely Ginormous Octopus, the talking MakeCold 6000 refrigerator and a very temperamental cat named Giggles, are not people at all. The novel's episodic plot and rapidly shifting settings help keep interest high, as readers never know what new surprises are around the next corner --- or what horrors lurk on the other side of the museum's red velvet ropes. Alex is a plucky, matter-of-fact heroine whom audiences will be rooting for until the very last page.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl