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.