Kress’s debut is a wonderful blend of whimsy and moral, with winks at the reader on every page. Alex, who lives with her uncle in the flat above their doorknob shop, is dreading the sixth grade and the stern teacher who comes with it, but on the first day she learns that a new teacher has been installed – the young Mr. Underwood (“a marvelous teacher despite being ever so distinctly odd”). He turns out to be a descendant of a famous pirate, and soon three vicious men turn up in town, looking for a map to a fabled family treasure. The map is somewhere in a stately manor house, run by the vicious old ladies of the Daughters of the Founding Fathers’ Preservation Society; Alex finds the map and escapes, but returns home to find that her uncle has been killed and Mr. Underwood has been kidnapped by the pirates of the ship Ironic Gentleman. She sets off to find him and has some odd encounters along the way (at one point, she meets an enormous octopus, distraught over how computer animation has wrecked his movie career). Eventually, Alex ends up on the Ironic Gentleman, face to face with the dreaded Captain Steele the Inevitable, whose identity comes as a big surprise. Kress has a delightfully simple, observational prose style that recalls A.A. Milne, right down to the frequent capitalization of Good Things and Very Interesting Things and so on. This inspired book should hold up to many re-readings. Ages 10-up.

There a couple of points to be duly noted about Alex and the Ironic Gentleman. First, Alex is not a boy.

Instead, Alex is a 10-1/2-year-old girl with a bowl-shaped haircut and an "Excellent Sense of Humor." And second, the Ironic Gentleman is not an adult with a dry wit but, rather, a very formidable pirate ship.

Adrienne Kress's delightful debut novel tells the tale – in lively and often droll detail – of Alex's entanglement with the crew of the Ironic Gentleman.

The story begins with Alex, an orphan, who lives with her beloved uncle, a doorknob merchant, and adores her "Very Interesting" sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Underwood.

It doesn't take Alex long to discover that Mr. Underwood has pirate origins (which would explain why he teaches fencing in gym class) and is the heir to (what else?) buried treasure.

Alex loves Mr. Underwood but finds him just a bit too passive in the face of challenge. So she takes the hunt for his missing treasure into her own hands, promptly landing herself in hot and scary waters.

To extricate herself, Alex must make her way – on an oversized bicycle, via an evil enchanted train, past an Extremely Ginormous Octopus, through the halls of a deserted hotel in a big, thick forest – to the deck of the Ironic Gentleman.

One of the most likeable things about this book are its characters. Alex makes a bright and appealing heroine and the supporting cast is nicely drawn and full of surprises. Mr. Underwood disappoints – until the 11th hour – and the pirates confuse with their dark charisma. (And who can resist an adventure in which the heroine is pursued by a posse of surly old ladies who drive a car with a bumper sticker that reads, "Driving slower than the speed limit is legal, for your information"?)

The one caution I'll add is that this book belongs in the hands of age-appropriate readers. Alex's adventures are a hoot but at least one loved character dies along the way. There are also some genuinely scary moments for our young heroine, who, in addition, finds her ideas about good and evil put to the test.

But for readers who are ready, this is a tale told with sparkle and wit.

By Hannah Trierweiler

New Books and Writing for Kids

FOUR AMAZING ADVENTURES... Pirates, underground cities, and gold rush drama—these new novels are packed with adrenaline-boosting excitement.

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman By Adrienne Kress. $16.95. Alex is a charming new heroine—spunky and often mistaken for a boy (but that’s okay with her). She lives with her uncle above a doorknob shop, until a favorite teacher is kidnapped and Alex sets out to rescue him. Grades 3–6.

Sneaking Suspicions By Carolyn Coman. $16.95. In this follow-up to the over-the-top The Big House, Coman sends the loveable Ivy and Ray on a road trip with their parents, who are newly freed from jail. But Ivy suspects her father might not be over his crime-loving ways. A fast, funny romp that will appeal to both boys and girls. Grades 3–6.

Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb By Kirsten Miller. $16.95. If you didn’t meet Kiki Strike and the Irregulars in their first adventure (Inside the Shadow City), now’s your chance. Three cheers for this crime-fighting, tough-talking, smart-sounding group of girls, protectors of an underground world deep under New York City. Grades 6–8.

A Tale of Gold By Thelma Hatch Wyss. $16.99. In the tradition of Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, Wyss spins a page-turning adventure about a 14-year-old boy, James, who heads to Alaska in search of gold. There he meets Tip, a young girl also looking for fortune, and the two make an astonishing journey across the wilderness. Grades 3–7.

By Rachel Cornelius

"Alex and the Ironic Gentleman" is the story of a young girl, Alex, and the adventure life suddenly throws at her. When Alex's sixth-grade teacher and friend, Mr. Underwood, is kidnapped over an ancient pirate treasure, Alex sets out to rescue him. Knowing Mr. Underwood has been taken to the pirate ship called The Ironic Gentleman, she heads to the coast. On the way she meets many unique and interesting characters; some who help and some who hinder her progress. Originally attracted to the book because of the title and interesting cover, I was very pleased with the story. It is a swash-buckling tale that is fun, thrilling and, at times, ridiculous. The narrator is friendly and funny. While reading "Alex and the Ironic Gentleman" I felt as if I was on the couch chatting with the narrator like old friends. I believe this story will be popular with children ages 10 and older. Girls will love to read about Alex, a leading lady who is charming, smart, lovable, strong and interesting. While the book is fun and entertaining, the story does have some mild violence and might not be suitable for younger readers. The author, Adrienne Kress, has a theater background, and her flair for the dramatic comes out in this story. This is Kress' first book, and has been compared to "Alice in Wonderland" and "Harriet the Spy." The young readers who enjoyed those stories will love this book. It has the potential to become a well-loved series. Alex is a character I want to see again and again. Rachel Cornelius is a library assistant at the Marathon County Public Library.

POST POTTER PICKS

By MAXINE SHEN

NOW that the Hogwarts epic is over - most of us finished the seventh and last Harry Potter book nearly as soon is it came out - it’s time to get crazy obsessed over a new fantasy for kids of all ages.

A good place to start might be with Bella Swan, a new-to-town teen who hangs with her vampire hottie classmate Edward Cullen in “Eclipse” (Little, Brown Young Readers), the third installment in Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight Saga.”

Out just over a week, the latest in the high school romance series has already knocked Potter from the top spot on Barnes & Nobles’ best-seller list.

It picks up where “Twilight” and “New Moon” left off, with Bella being hunted by vampires out for her blood (again). This time, she’s forced to choose between her mysterious boyfriend and her best pal, a werewolf.

Look for the saga’s finale in the fall.

Fans of the melted popsicles and spoiled brats of Melissa de la Cruz’s popular “The Au Pairs” series are in for a change, with the author taking on vampires - her vamps still drink blood, but they’re not undead - they’re actually fallen angels forced to live on earth. In her “Blue Bloods” series (Hyperion), 15-year-old Schuyler Van Alen risks her life to find out who murdered her classmate at their New York private school.

In the new book, “Masquerade,” Schuyler visits Venice to see her grandfather to untangle family secrets. The series resolves next fall with “Revelations.”

Vampire fans should also check out “Marked” (St. Martin’s Griffin), the first of the “House of Nights” novels written by the mother-daughter team P.C. and Kristin Cast. They introduce a world where vampire mythology mixes with magic when 16-year-old Zoey Redbird enters a boarding school for fledgling vampires and goes up against the psychic leader of the Dark Daughters, who’s misusing her powers.

The second book in the six-part series, “Betrayed,” is out on Oct. 2, with the third book, “Chosen,” due in March.

Potter-like magic comes into play in Michael Scott’s “The Alchemyst” (Delacorte Press). The first of the six-part “The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” series takes place over two days and revolves around Nicholas Flamel - the actual historical figure (born in 1330) who created the Sorcerer’s Stone familiar to Potter fans.

Flamel and his wife are living in modern-day San Francisco when they’re attacked by Dr. John Dee (Elizabeth I’s magician), who wants Flamel’s book of magic. Teen twins Sophie and Josh Newman get involved in the fight to save humanity.

The sequel, “The Magician,” is out next summer, with a new book out every year until 2012.

“Pirates of the Caribbean” fans may welcome the whimsical “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman” (Weinstein Books, out Sept. 18), by Adrienne Kress.

For sixth-grader Alex Morningside - whose bowl-cut hair gets her mistaken for a boy - it’s a pirate’s life when her favorite teacher gets kidnapped by buccaneers looking for a treasure map.

She encounters oddities like the Extremely Ginormous Octopus, the potentially ill-named Capt. Magnanimous and the crew of the Ironic Gentleman, the deadliest pirate ship that’s ever sailed the Seven Seas. The next, as yet-untitled, book in the series hits shelves this spring.

Mark Walden’s “H.I.V.E.” (Simon & Schuster) asks what would happen if Harry had been sorted into Slytherin and Hogwarts was a school for criminal masterminds. If that were the case, you’d end up with white-haired, 13-year-old orphan Otto Malpense (French for “bad thought”) and the Higher Institute for Villainous Education, a k a H.I.V.E.

Marooned at the volcano-based school for the best and brightest, Otto and his trio of friends struggle to use whatever brilliant plans their devious minds can cook up - while taking classes in Stealth and Evasion and Villainy Studies - to do the impossible: escape from the H.I.V.E.

It’s clear there’s no escaping the allure of a good yarn.