Adrienne Kress is involved in the theatre, apparently. She either currently teaches or recently taught drama to 8-12-year-olds; she must be very brave. After attending the University of Toronto, she went on to study and act in London. Her parents are also theatrical sorts, and she not only dedicated the book to them, but reiterated her thanks in the afterword. This book was a birthday present from Ben; I think he primarily bought it because of the title. Admittedly, the title is quite good. This seems to be Ms. Kress’s first novel, although she appears to have written several plays; the second, Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate, will be published next year.

Alexandra Morningside, more commonly called Alex, lives with her uncle, who sells doorknobs, on or near a bridge. She has just started sixth grade at the prestigious Wigpowder-Steele Academy (her uncle is inexplicably on the board of directors), and she has a brand-new teacher: Mr. Underwood. Mr. Underwood turns out to be a descendent of the Wigpowder who founded the school; that man was a pirate, and he still has some treasure somewhere. However, the descendant of the Steele is currently a pirate, and he thinks that Mr. Underwood knows where the map to the treasure is. Before too long, the pirate kidnaps Mr. Underwood. Alex, having very little other family (Mr. Underwood and her uncle have become great friends), must go after him. She’s only ten-and-a-half years old, though. What can she do?

I have never read anything by Eoin Colfer, so although I can speak of the accuracy of the cover quote (“Quirky, hilarious, and genuinely exhilarating!” — why, yes; yes, it is those things), I can’t speak to any similarity with the Artemis Fowl books. I do know that Alex and the Ironic Gentleman strikes me as being like a good version of the Series of Unfortunate Events (at least the ones I’ve read). It’s got a snarky narrator who is condescending, but whereas I felt the condescention was a little over the top and not funny enough in the Snicket books, it’s actually quite witty in this novel. It’s also got a main character (only one, in this case) who’s a bit “quirky” and has a good deal of things happening to her. Alex has a lot more agency than the Baudelaire children, but overall, it’s sort of a Novel of Bizarre Events, rather than unfortunate ones.

There are puns and amusing names all over the place. One of the major cities is called Port Cullis; there’s a character named No-Knee-Caps; a Lord Poppinjay makes an appearance; “Underwood” is even a moderately amusing name in the first place. There’s a Captain Magnanimous, who really is quite generous, and who could forget the Extremely Ginormous Octopus? The “Ironic Gentleman” of the title is actually a ship; I think it’s a fantastic name for a ship in general. Other ships’ names include the Ill Repute, the Ugly Duckling, and Los Diablos. Pretty much only Alex herself doesn’t have a name that would make readers laugh.

The characters in the book are generally ridiculous. Alex, of course is seen as nearly the only point of sanity in the entire world; other characters vary between just a little off (Alex’s uncle and Mr. Underwood) to strange and sinister (the Daughters of the Founding Fathers committee members) to downright nutty (Lord Poppinjay). When I met another character who isn’t off-the-wall in some fashion, I almost didn’t believe it — I kept expecting her to have blue feathers in her hair or something. No; she was really helpful and nice and sane. It was a breath of fresh air. Overall, I did enjoy the book very much; it kept itself just this side of too zany and annoying, and it made for a very quick but exciting read. Definitely recommended for middle-grade readers and anyone else who enjoys strange romps through worlds just a few degrees askew from our own. Oh, and pirates. 4.5/5 stars.