Often mistaken for a boy because of her haircut and name, Alex Morningside is an inquisitive girl of ten-and-a-half who attends the prestigious Wigpowder-Steele Academy. Unfortunately, though she loves to learn, Alex just can't bring herself to enjoy her classes. Her teachers are all old and smelly and don't seem to know about anything that has happened in the world the past thirty years, and her peers...well they are quite simply ridiculous.
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 infamous pirates of a ship called the Ironic Gentleman kidnap Mr. Underwood, Alex sets off on a journey to rescue him, along the way encountering a cast of strange and magical characters, including the dashing and sometimes heroic Captain Magnanimous, Coriander the Conjurer, the Extremely Ginormous Octopus, and the wicked Daughters of the Founding Fathers' Preservation Society.
When Alex's sixth-grade teacher turns out to be the descendant of a pirate, she launches a secret hunt for his lost inheritance of booty. Unfortunately, Alex isn't the only seeker. Narrator Christopher Lane portrays Alex as inexperienced but confident as she carries out her quest. Through Lane's wide vocal range, listeners become entangled with very odd characters, some of them menacing but most of them more absurd than scary. Lane shines in his portrayal of a gigantic octopus drowning his sorrows in drink because his movie career has ended due to computer-generated technology. When Alex finally introduces us to the notorious captain of the IRONIC GENTLEMAN, we're in for a surprise. N.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Adrienne Kress is a graduate of the University of Toronto and has studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Her work has been performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, among other venues in Canada and the UK. Following in her family tradition, Adrienne has also been a drama teacher, focusing on eight-to-twelve year olds.
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