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Dawn Undercover
Dawn Buckle spends most of her days trying to get people to notice her, but whether at home or at school, it's as if she's invisible. And that's exactly what makes her the ideal recruit for S.H.H. (Strictly Hush Hush)―a secret intelligence agency. How the world's most forgettable girl transform herself into a world-class spy (and brings in a surprising double agent) makes for a rollicking read.
368 pages, Paperback
Published October 17, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
June 30, 2024
Very cute. Kept me entertained but what children's book doesn’t. Love ‘em, loved this! The focus is on an eleven year old ordinary girl, so ordinary she seems to be invisible to everyone around her, she even goes unnoticed by her parents. Until one day Dawn is chosen by a recruiter from the British intelligence agency to train and become a spy. She is given a top secret job in P.S.S.T. (Pursuit of Scheming Spies and Traitors) of tracking down the wicked criminal, Murdo Meek.
Dawn Undercover was a fun read. Full of adventure, mystery, espionage and best of all… a girl hero.
Dawn Undercover was a fun read. Full of adventure, mystery, espionage and best of all… a girl hero.
January 14, 2010
Really Really Good.!!!! You get into it straight away and it's good for any reader
Read
July 8, 2025Cross-posted from my blog where there's more information on where I got my copy and links and everything.
Wait, I actually really liked this. Like, I can’t say I was expecting for a book I bought in, like, 2011 or something in a Dollarama, to be particularly amazing. I also hadn’t touched this in the 10+ years since I bought it, and I really had low expectations, but this is actually really cute.
I can definitely see publishers selling this as, like, Alex Rider but “””for girls””” but it’s a lot more whimsical and silly. It’s a little goofy, and not too serious, and I thought it was really fun. It’s like if Harriet the Spy was recruited by an actual spy agency, albeit one that’s not especially prestigious.
It’s also incredibly British, and the descriptions of food in this are delightful. There’s bacon sandwiches, sausages, so many kinds of biscuits and lovely little sweets, and they made me quite hungry XD
There’s a couple instances of language that hasn’t aged amazingly, and the lack of cellphones and more modern technology does require you to suspend a bit of disbelief, but it’s really not a big deal, and I thought it was really sweet and fun. Big surprise, but I’m pleased!
Content notes: A character has a gun in one scene. Two characters are briefly kidnapped. Another is mentioned to have fallen off a ladder. No one is ever seriously harmed.
Wait, I actually really liked this. Like, I can’t say I was expecting for a book I bought in, like, 2011 or something in a Dollarama, to be particularly amazing. I also hadn’t touched this in the 10+ years since I bought it, and I really had low expectations, but this is actually really cute.
I can definitely see publishers selling this as, like, Alex Rider but “””for girls””” but it’s a lot more whimsical and silly. It’s a little goofy, and not too serious, and I thought it was really fun. It’s like if Harriet the Spy was recruited by an actual spy agency, albeit one that’s not especially prestigious.
It’s also incredibly British, and the descriptions of food in this are delightful. There’s bacon sandwiches, sausages, so many kinds of biscuits and lovely little sweets, and they made me quite hungry XD
There’s a couple instances of language that hasn’t aged amazingly, and the lack of cellphones and more modern technology does require you to suspend a bit of disbelief, but it’s really not a big deal, and I thought it was really sweet and fun. Big surprise, but I’m pleased!
Content notes: A character has a gun in one scene. Two characters are briefly kidnapped. Another is mentioned to have fallen off a ladder. No one is ever seriously harmed.
September 27, 2019
Read as a kid. Got close to the end, but had to return before finishing. I've thought about this book for years and I'm only just now rediscovering it thanks to some stellar detective work by a dear friend.
January 1, 2019
A beautifully written children's book, the different methods of cryptography are fantastic, and I particularly always liked the 'Cumberbatch Alphabet', of which I can still recite to this day.
January 11, 2021
A charming story! I'm going to save this title for my young friend, she'll love it.
March 27, 2021
Read this as an adult but still really enjoyed and feel I would have enjoyed when I was younger too! Fast moving and I feel the main characters is relatable for many kids!
Read
May 13, 2021this is my childhood
October 13, 2021
I hated this book LG
October 23, 2022
Nawet ciekawe
July 16, 2025
przeczytane dawno temu gdy byłam szkrabem, uwielbiałam tę książkę
July 15, 2015
Le Carre for the Middle Grade Set
This book offers an appealing combination - an engaging girl hero and a fairly complicated spy novel. At least to me, Anna Dale always writes sly, slightly vinegary books, and this seems like a book that might appeal very much to a confident, ambitious middle grade reader.
We start out with a good straightforward running joke. Dawn, for some reason, is always overlooked or unnoticed by people. At the outset we follow Dawn as she has to wait at a school crossing for another school kid to show up because the crossing guard just doesn't register Dawn waiting alone to cross. We follow Dawn's day as time after time she just seems to be invisible to everyone, including her own parents. At one point Dawn is absolutely thrilled because a passing motorist seems to actually look at and see her. Turns out, this motorist is a recruiter for a spy agency and is on the lookout for just such an invisible girl as Dawn.
With that, the spy adventure begins. Dawn is recruited and trained. She is sent into the field to track down the most famous traitor/spy in England. Action, adventure, disguises, double identities, crosses and doublecrosses, and lurking and spying follow. The plot bobs and weaves; it really does feel like John Le Carre was whispering into Dale's ear as she plotted this out.
The result is a mixed bag, in the sense that this is a couple of different books, and it all doesn't fit together exactly seamlessly. Dawn is often deadpan funny and she has a dry wit and observational skills well above the ordinary. But she is deeply attached to her stuffed donkey. She is both shy and fearless, hesitant and assertive, childish and mature. That's fine. But when we get to Dawn's training, there is a lot of, well, training. You actually feel like you're in the bowels of M-5 or M-1 or whichever M the spy agency is.
Then we get out into the field and we have an actual Cold War style spy novel. But with some kid friendly jokes. But with a lot of talk about agency budget cuts. Around here we have added in all of Dawn's fellow agents. They're all adults and sometimes these sections read like an adult spy novel that just happens to have a kid at the margins. Except for the fact that there is some broad middle grade humor blended in with the dry adult humor; and a stuffed animal.
The upshot is that you get fine and clever writing, wide variations in style and tone, a tricky but sometimes silly plot, and this wonderful little girl wandering around in the thick of it. It seems to me that a young reader would very much like and identify with Dawn, and that this would carry that reader through the denser chapters. Given the rewards to be found, including great humor and wry insight, on balance this seems an interesting choice for a confident reader who's willing to take a bit of a chance.
Please note that I found this book while browsing in our local library. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
This book offers an appealing combination - an engaging girl hero and a fairly complicated spy novel. At least to me, Anna Dale always writes sly, slightly vinegary books, and this seems like a book that might appeal very much to a confident, ambitious middle grade reader.
We start out with a good straightforward running joke. Dawn, for some reason, is always overlooked or unnoticed by people. At the outset we follow Dawn as she has to wait at a school crossing for another school kid to show up because the crossing guard just doesn't register Dawn waiting alone to cross. We follow Dawn's day as time after time she just seems to be invisible to everyone, including her own parents. At one point Dawn is absolutely thrilled because a passing motorist seems to actually look at and see her. Turns out, this motorist is a recruiter for a spy agency and is on the lookout for just such an invisible girl as Dawn.
With that, the spy adventure begins. Dawn is recruited and trained. She is sent into the field to track down the most famous traitor/spy in England. Action, adventure, disguises, double identities, crosses and doublecrosses, and lurking and spying follow. The plot bobs and weaves; it really does feel like John Le Carre was whispering into Dale's ear as she plotted this out.
The result is a mixed bag, in the sense that this is a couple of different books, and it all doesn't fit together exactly seamlessly. Dawn is often deadpan funny and she has a dry wit and observational skills well above the ordinary. But she is deeply attached to her stuffed donkey. She is both shy and fearless, hesitant and assertive, childish and mature. That's fine. But when we get to Dawn's training, there is a lot of, well, training. You actually feel like you're in the bowels of M-5 or M-1 or whichever M the spy agency is.
Then we get out into the field and we have an actual Cold War style spy novel. But with some kid friendly jokes. But with a lot of talk about agency budget cuts. Around here we have added in all of Dawn's fellow agents. They're all adults and sometimes these sections read like an adult spy novel that just happens to have a kid at the margins. Except for the fact that there is some broad middle grade humor blended in with the dry adult humor; and a stuffed animal.
The upshot is that you get fine and clever writing, wide variations in style and tone, a tricky but sometimes silly plot, and this wonderful little girl wandering around in the thick of it. It seems to me that a young reader would very much like and identify with Dawn, and that this would carry that reader through the denser chapters. Given the rewards to be found, including great humor and wry insight, on balance this seems an interesting choice for a confident reader who's willing to take a bit of a chance.
Please note that I found this book while browsing in our local library. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
April 28, 2008
i think i originally checked this out because this year’s slp theme was all about mysteries and i thought it might be a good mystery book to recommend. it sat on my bedside table for a very long time but i finished reading most of it yesterday. it’s actually a spy book more than a mystery (although, of course, there is a mystery to solve). sort of reminds me of the mysterious benedict society only without the tight-knit group of spy kids–there’s really only one spy kid. and her adult cohorts. and one bumbling boy and his boisterous dog. the premise is somewhat interesting–the main character, dawn, is so average and boring that no one ever takes notice of her (not even the school crossing guard) until one day a spy agency recruits her for her amazing ability to go unnoticed. once given a taste of self-esteem, however, dawn gets a tiny bit cocky (in my opinion) but in the end still manages to remain a likeable character. it was a good book, but i’m not rushing to find a sequel.
May 17, 2013
My mother got me a copy of this when I was younger because of me going through a bit of a James Bond phase and I was hooked. I think I read the book in a weekend and spent the next couple of weeks making up secret codes with my friends. Though looking back this is more a mystery than a spy novel I found it gripping and despite the main character being female the book wasn't girly so I would happily recommend it to any child/young adult who is interested in mysteries.
October 16, 2008
I picked this one up because Karalee said Whispering to Witches is good but it wasn't at the library but this one was by the same author...so I got it instead. :) It was a fun story and it doesn't end with a "to be continued" which is something I am coming to appreciate in these days of trilogies and such!
May 10, 2014
Once again, Anna Dale proves herself an exceptional author. The story is captivating, though a bit predictable at times, but overall is a splendid read. If you haven't read Dale's Whispering to Witches, read it. I liked it even better than Dawn Undercover. In fact, it was the book that led me to Dawn.
August 25, 2009
So I've decided this just isn't my genre. The preteen books have a hard time keeping my attention. This was cute though very unbelievable to me. I finished reading it just to finish but not because I felt any desire to find out the end.
December 2, 2008
This is a really amazing book about a girl who is trained to become a spy. She has lots of adventures undercover and it really doesn't let you go until you've finished the whole book. Plus, it has a lot of spy codes at the back.
February 11, 2014
Dawn Undercover is a bit like a girl's version of the Alex Rider books. From an adult's perspective most of the story is naturally completely ridiculous and improbable. But for young girls this book is great entertainment.
August 3, 2015
Wonderful read. Strikes the perfect balance between an interesting, engaging childrens adventure and mature, twist-turning mystery novel. The kids loved it, every night eager to know what happens next. Kept us all guessing and wrapped up beautifully. Well done!
March 2, 2008
This is a great book. It's about a girl, just trying to find her place in life. This author has also written a great book called, Whispering to Witches.
March 15, 2008
This book is about some young spy who wants to complete a mission successfully and wants to leave her mark in the spying headquaters.
August 15, 2008
This is another one of those books that, for me, you read a million times and yet still don't get tired of it.
September 1, 2008
it was written terribly.
March 5, 2015
Eleven-year-old Dawn, Rustgate Primary School's most forgettable student, is recruited for a British secret intelligence agency and sent on a spy mission to track a master criminal.
March 5, 2010
too predictable.
May 11, 2010
Ashlynn was meant to read this book for book club, but she didn't like it. I needed something quick to read so I choose it. It was okay, about a girl that becomes a spy.
May 23, 2011
Very cute. Not as good as Whispering to Witches, but it held my interest all the way through.
May 14, 2014
Doesn't end as strongly as it started but OK spy story for younger children
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews