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Kensy & Max #3
Undercover
Kensy and Max are back in London for no time at all before things begin to heat up - quite literally. As a result, Granny Cordelia ships them off to Australia on an undercover mission. The twins find themselves planted in a posh Sydney school where first appearances prove to be deceiving.
What seems like a straightforward assignment turns into something so much bigger. Kensy and Max must employ all their spy skills - the fate of their parents, and who they've been searching for, depends on it.
What seems like a straightforward assignment turns into something so much bigger. Kensy and Max must employ all their spy skills - the fate of their parents, and who they've been searching for, depends on it.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 5, 2019
19 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Jacqueline Harvey
133 books308 followersJacqueline Harvey has combined a successful career in education with her love of a good story. She is the author of many novels for younger readers and a picture book, THE SOUND OF THE SEA, which was awarded Honour Book in the 2006 Australian Children’s Book Council Awards.
Jacqueline taught in Infants and Primary schools and was Deputy Head of Abbotsleigh Junior School (an independent day and boarding school for girls) in Sydney Australia for seven and a half years before taking up the position of Director of Development at Abbotsleigh in 2010. In October 2012 she resigned to become a full time writer and speaker.
Jacqueline’s bestselling Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose series’ centre on the adventures of two young girls.
Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones is a perpetually positive and determined seven year old who takes herself off to boarding school because it appeals to her sense of adventure.
Clementine Rose is a sweet little girl, who brings much joy to her family and the friends she makes along the way in her journeys through the first five books of the series. A star of the show is Clementine Rose’s pet, an adorable teacup pig called Lavender.
Her newest series is called Kensy and Max about twins who learn that their grandmother is head of the world's most important spy organisation, Pharos.
Current Books in the Series’
Clementine Rose and the Seaside Escape April 1, 2014 Shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) 2015
Alice-Miranda In Japan March 1, 2014 Shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) 2015
Alice-Miranda Shines Bright September 1, 2013
Selected for the 2013 Get Reading Program (50 Books You Can’t Put down)
Clementine Rose and the Perfect Present May 1, 2013
Clementine Rose and the Farm Fiasco August 1, 2013
Alice-Miranda In Paris March 1, 2013
Shortlisted 2014 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year 8-14 years category
Shortlisted 2014 REAL awards which are the Children’s’ Choice awards KOALA’s in NSW, YABBA’s in Victoria and COOL in the ACT.
Clementine Rose and the Pet Day Disaster January 1, 2012
Alice-Miranda in New York February 1, 2012
Winner Random House Australia Children’s Book of the Year
Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor September 1, 2012
Selected for the 2012 Get Reading Program (50 Books You Can't Put Down)
Voted #50 Dymocks Top 51 Kid’s Books 2013
Alice-Miranda Shows the Way August 1, 2012
Shortlisted for 2013 REAL awards which are the Children’s’ Choice awards KOALA’s in NSW, YABBA’s in Victoria and COOL in the ACT
Awarded Honour Book KOALA awards
Alice-Miranda At Sea August 1, 2012
Longlisted for DAVITT awards (Crime fiction in Junior Category) 2012
Alice-Miranda Takes the Lead February 1, 2011
Named Australian Children's Book of the Year 2011 as voted by the members of the NSW Independent Booksellers Group.
Alice-Miranda On Holiday August 1, 2010
Alice-Miranda at School February 1, 2010
Voted #9 Dymocks Top 51 Books for Kids 2013
Winner 2012 YABBA (Young Australian's Best Book Award in Victoria)
Awarded Honour Book KOALAs
Shortlisted for 2012 REAL awards which are the Children’s Choice Awards – KOALA’s in NSW, YABBA’s in Victoria, WAYRBA in Western Australia and COOL in the ACT
Shortlisted for the 2011 Australian Peace Award.
Kensy and Max: Breaking News March 2018 Shortlisted for Red Dot Book Awards Singapore 2020, YABBA, KOALA and KROC Children's Choice Awards Victoria, NSW and NT 202, Shortlisted West Australian Young Readers' Book Awards 2020
Jacqueline taught in Infants and Primary schools and was Deputy Head of Abbotsleigh Junior School (an independent day and boarding school for girls) in Sydney Australia for seven and a half years before taking up the position of Director of Development at Abbotsleigh in 2010. In October 2012 she resigned to become a full time writer and speaker.
Jacqueline’s bestselling Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose series’ centre on the adventures of two young girls.
Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones is a perpetually positive and determined seven year old who takes herself off to boarding school because it appeals to her sense of adventure.
Clementine Rose is a sweet little girl, who brings much joy to her family and the friends she makes along the way in her journeys through the first five books of the series. A star of the show is Clementine Rose’s pet, an adorable teacup pig called Lavender.
Her newest series is called Kensy and Max about twins who learn that their grandmother is head of the world's most important spy organisation, Pharos.
Current Books in the Series’
Clementine Rose and the Seaside Escape April 1, 2014 Shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) 2015
Alice-Miranda In Japan March 1, 2014 Shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) 2015
Alice-Miranda Shines Bright September 1, 2013
Selected for the 2013 Get Reading Program (50 Books You Can’t Put down)
Clementine Rose and the Perfect Present May 1, 2013
Clementine Rose and the Farm Fiasco August 1, 2013
Alice-Miranda In Paris March 1, 2013
Shortlisted 2014 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year 8-14 years category
Shortlisted 2014 REAL awards which are the Children’s’ Choice awards KOALA’s in NSW, YABBA’s in Victoria and COOL in the ACT.
Clementine Rose and the Pet Day Disaster January 1, 2012
Alice-Miranda in New York February 1, 2012
Winner Random House Australia Children’s Book of the Year
Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor September 1, 2012
Selected for the 2012 Get Reading Program (50 Books You Can't Put Down)
Voted #50 Dymocks Top 51 Kid’s Books 2013
Alice-Miranda Shows the Way August 1, 2012
Shortlisted for 2013 REAL awards which are the Children’s’ Choice awards KOALA’s in NSW, YABBA’s in Victoria and COOL in the ACT
Awarded Honour Book KOALA awards
Alice-Miranda At Sea August 1, 2012
Longlisted for DAVITT awards (Crime fiction in Junior Category) 2012
Alice-Miranda Takes the Lead February 1, 2011
Named Australian Children's Book of the Year 2011 as voted by the members of the NSW Independent Booksellers Group.
Alice-Miranda On Holiday August 1, 2010
Alice-Miranda at School February 1, 2010
Voted #9 Dymocks Top 51 Books for Kids 2013
Winner 2012 YABBA (Young Australian's Best Book Award in Victoria)
Awarded Honour Book KOALAs
Shortlisted for 2012 REAL awards which are the Children’s Choice Awards – KOALA’s in NSW, YABBA’s in Victoria, WAYRBA in Western Australia and COOL in the ACT
Shortlisted for the 2011 Australian Peace Award.
Kensy and Max: Breaking News March 2018 Shortlisted for Red Dot Book Awards Singapore 2020, YABBA, KOALA and KROC Children's Choice Awards Victoria, NSW and NT 202, Shortlisted West Australian Young Readers' Book Awards 2020
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 24, 2019
Highly recommended for ages 9-12 Themes: Brothers and sisters, Spies, Mysteries, Missing persons
After a week’s intensive training in spy craft, eleven-year-old twins Kensy and Max return to their London home to begin the new school term. Kensy’s unsettled and distracted behaviour, thinking of her missing parents and grandparents leads to an unfortunate explosion in the school laboratory. When a second blast destroys their grandmother’s seven storey house, Kensy and Max are packed off to Sydney to escape the espionage.
Granny Cordelia sends the twins to far away Sydney, Australia wherefrom the danger; their new mission focuses on uncovering the troubles and problems their grandmother’s best friend’s family are facing. They are sent to infiltrate Van and Ellery Chalmers’ posh private school and watch the children. With Song the butler and Fitz as their guardian and protector, Kensy and Max soon settle in to Sydney life. Secret coded messages from their parents encourage the children to keep on going. Fitz is disguised as the new PE teacher and the twins placed in Year 5 and 6, Van and Ellery Chalmers’ classes. Counterpoint to this main story, we gain insight into the whereabouts of the missing grandparents and their captivity. Kensy and Max’s spy skills come in to play, with the accompaniment of their affable next-door neighbour Curtis whose knowledge of transport and locations is very beneficial. Max’s discovery of his cricket skills also proves valuable. The reasons behind Mrs Chalmers’ secretive behaviour, hiding resources to help her escape with her children also become apparent.
Jacqueline Harvey’s ‘Undercover’ delivers another fast-paced story, she is the master of creating exciting characters, bringing to life the backdrop of her familiar home-town Sydney. She is not afraid to deal with bullying, kidnapping, industrial espionage, chemical warfare and domestic abuse. The author continues to develop significant themes of friendship, sibling loyalty, creative problem solving and personal growth. ‘Undercover’ is another brilliant read, complete with spy craft and code cracking, proving to be another winner for the preteen and young teen audience.
After a week’s intensive training in spy craft, eleven-year-old twins Kensy and Max return to their London home to begin the new school term. Kensy’s unsettled and distracted behaviour, thinking of her missing parents and grandparents leads to an unfortunate explosion in the school laboratory. When a second blast destroys their grandmother’s seven storey house, Kensy and Max are packed off to Sydney to escape the espionage.
Granny Cordelia sends the twins to far away Sydney, Australia wherefrom the danger; their new mission focuses on uncovering the troubles and problems their grandmother’s best friend’s family are facing. They are sent to infiltrate Van and Ellery Chalmers’ posh private school and watch the children. With Song the butler and Fitz as their guardian and protector, Kensy and Max soon settle in to Sydney life. Secret coded messages from their parents encourage the children to keep on going. Fitz is disguised as the new PE teacher and the twins placed in Year 5 and 6, Van and Ellery Chalmers’ classes. Counterpoint to this main story, we gain insight into the whereabouts of the missing grandparents and their captivity. Kensy and Max’s spy skills come in to play, with the accompaniment of their affable next-door neighbour Curtis whose knowledge of transport and locations is very beneficial. Max’s discovery of his cricket skills also proves valuable. The reasons behind Mrs Chalmers’ secretive behaviour, hiding resources to help her escape with her children also become apparent.
Jacqueline Harvey’s ‘Undercover’ delivers another fast-paced story, she is the master of creating exciting characters, bringing to life the backdrop of her familiar home-town Sydney. She is not afraid to deal with bullying, kidnapping, industrial espionage, chemical warfare and domestic abuse. The author continues to develop significant themes of friendship, sibling loyalty, creative problem solving and personal growth. ‘Undercover’ is another brilliant read, complete with spy craft and code cracking, proving to be another winner for the preteen and young teen audience.
January 23, 2022
I really loved how this book was in Australia! I always love all the uncorking in this book series too! I wish Autumn and Carlos were in the book more but I think they will be in more of the next books! I’m really curious if in the next book if the plot will still be connected to Dash and I’m also curious about what Fitz did in New Zealand with the twin’s parents!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2023
My favorite one so far. The ending was happy, the twins banter was well done, Curtis was fun, plus my 9 year-old niece told me she thought this one was so funny because a boy has a crush on Kensy who isn't amused. My niece thought that was so funny, and it was.
December 30, 2021
That was better than th eother one but STILL. JUST NO. LIKE WHAT HAPPNED TO THIER UNCLES LOVE ??? NEVER TOLD US. AND THE ENDING... NUH U NO. AND THEY DIDNT EVEN FIGURE OUT WHO WAS TRYING TO KILL THEM
January 1, 2022
Fatphobic
October 13, 2023
I hate these. The kids love them. One more left in the series.
April 12, 2025
This book is the foundation on which the rest of the series is built, and it's also the start of a love traingle
December 28, 2021
This is the third Kensy and Max adventure, and it’s an enjoyable read.
Eleven-year-old Kensy and Max are twins, and also agents-in-training for the spy organisation, Pharos. Their grandmother, Dame Cordelia Spencer, is the Head of Pharos and their parents are on a mission, searching for their maternal grandparents. Their “manny”, Fitz, has the day-to-day care of the twins while their parents are absent.
The story begins in London. After a science experiment at school goes wrong, Kensy is convinced someone is trying to kill them. And when Dame Spencer’s home is partially destroyed by a mysterious explosion, their grandmother sends the twins and Fitz on a mission — all the way to Sydney, Australia.
The twins’ mission is to befriend Van and Ellery Chalmers, the grandchildren of Dame Spencer’s oldest friend. Dame Spencer has information that their mother, Tinsley, plans to take the Chalmers children away from their father, Dash, but nobody knows why.
Accordingly, Kensy and Max are enrolled at the very posh Wentworth Grammar, and Fitz, heavily disguised and posing as their father, begins his role as PE teacher at the school. Between being roped into the school choir (the Headmaster, Thaddeus Thacker, is obsessed with winning the Sydney Choral Festival for a record sixth time), cricket practice (Max discovers he has a talent for the game), and trying to fulfil their mission, the twins are very busy!
They also befriend a boy called Curtis Pepper, who is a bit of an amateur spy himself. Curtis plays a crucial role towards the end of the book when things really heat up!
Meanwhile, we find out that the twins’ maternal grandparents are, indeed, still alive, and have been held captive by a person or persons unknown for around 12 years. Both scientists, they had been working on a vaccine when they were kidnapped, but now their work involved creating “the vilest diseases known to man”, together with their cures, and “someone completely unknown to them was likely becoming the richest human on Earth”.
It all comes together nicely at the end, and the children discover that Thaddeus Thacker has a little secret of his own!
Coded messages, dastardly villains, lots of humour and action — what more could you want? As an additional bit of fun, each chapter title is coded using the Atbash cipher (where each letter of the alphabet is reversed (i.e., A = Z , etc.), explained by the author at the end of the book). So once you’ve finished the book, you can go back and decipher all the chapter headings. And yes, I did!
Eleven-year-old Kensy and Max are twins, and also agents-in-training for the spy organisation, Pharos. Their grandmother, Dame Cordelia Spencer, is the Head of Pharos and their parents are on a mission, searching for their maternal grandparents. Their “manny”, Fitz, has the day-to-day care of the twins while their parents are absent.
The story begins in London. After a science experiment at school goes wrong, Kensy is convinced someone is trying to kill them. And when Dame Spencer’s home is partially destroyed by a mysterious explosion, their grandmother sends the twins and Fitz on a mission — all the way to Sydney, Australia.
The twins’ mission is to befriend Van and Ellery Chalmers, the grandchildren of Dame Spencer’s oldest friend. Dame Spencer has information that their mother, Tinsley, plans to take the Chalmers children away from their father, Dash, but nobody knows why.
Accordingly, Kensy and Max are enrolled at the very posh Wentworth Grammar, and Fitz, heavily disguised and posing as their father, begins his role as PE teacher at the school. Between being roped into the school choir (the Headmaster, Thaddeus Thacker, is obsessed with winning the Sydney Choral Festival for a record sixth time), cricket practice (Max discovers he has a talent for the game), and trying to fulfil their mission, the twins are very busy!
They also befriend a boy called Curtis Pepper, who is a bit of an amateur spy himself. Curtis plays a crucial role towards the end of the book when things really heat up!
Meanwhile, we find out that the twins’ maternal grandparents are, indeed, still alive, and have been held captive by a person or persons unknown for around 12 years. Both scientists, they had been working on a vaccine when they were kidnapped, but now their work involved creating “the vilest diseases known to man”, together with their cures, and “someone completely unknown to them was likely becoming the richest human on Earth”.
It all comes together nicely at the end, and the children discover that Thaddeus Thacker has a little secret of his own!
Coded messages, dastardly villains, lots of humour and action — what more could you want? As an additional bit of fun, each chapter title is coded using the Atbash cipher (where each letter of the alphabet is reversed (i.e., A = Z , etc.), explained by the author at the end of the book). So once you’ve finished the book, you can go back and decipher all the chapter headings. And yes, I did!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews