Fans of Lemony Snicket, Harriet the Spy , and Alice in Wonderland will love this witty, magical fantasy and its unforgettable tomboy heroine.

A smart, funny mixture of fantasy and high adventure, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman tells the story of Alex Morningside, an inquisitive ten-and-a-half-year-old girl who lives with her uncle above a doorknob shop. A student at the prestigious Wigpowder-Steele Academy, Alex is often mistaken for a boy because of her bowl haircut, but that's okay -- she has an excellent sense of humor.

Alex hates Wigpowder-Steele because as much as she enjoys learning, she doesn't enjoy wearing a uniform with a skirt. She also doesn't enjoy her teachers, who are all very old and smell funny and don't seem to know about any of the developments that have happened in the world in the last thirty years. And she most definitely does not enjoy her peers, who are quite simply ridiculous. However, that's okay, too, because her peers don't enjoy her much either. Luckily for Alex, the new school year brings an exciting new teacher. Mr. Underwood makes lessons fun and teaches her how to fence. But Mr. Underwood has a mysterious family secret -- the swashbuckling and buried treasure kind -- and not everyone is glad he has come to Wigpowder-Steele.

When the pirates of a ship called The Ironic Gentleman kidnap her beloved teacher, Alex sets off on a through-the-looking-glass journey to rescue him, along the way encountering a steady stream of hilarious and colorful characters, including one Captain Magnanimous, Coriander the Conjurer, and the Extremely Ginormous Octopus. Funny, charming, and ultimately tender, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman ends with a twist that readers will find as heartwarming as it is surprising.