Life Hacks for a Little Alien

by Alice Franklin

Overview

Perfect for readers of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Remarkably Bright Creatures, this is a charming, witty, and profoundly moving novel about what it feels like to grow up neurodivergent.

"An extraordinary debut that made me laugh, tear up, and feel hopeful." —Angie Kim, author of Happiness Falls

“Climb up here, Little Alien. Sit next to me. I will tell you about life on this planet. I will tell you how it goes.”
 
Before she thinks of herself as Little Alien, our protagonist is a lonely girl who doesn’t understand the world the way other children seem to. So when a late-night TV special introduces her to the mysterious Voynich Manuscript—an ancient tome written in an indecipherable language—Little Alien experiences something she hasn’t before: hope. Could there be others like her, who also feel like they’re from another planet?

Convinced the Voynich Manuscript holds the answers she needs, Little Alien and her best (and only) friend Bobby decide they must find this strange book. Where that decision leads them will change everything.

Narrated by an unexpected guide who has arrived to give Little Alien the advice she’ll need to find her way, Life Hacks for a Little Alien is both a coming-of-age adventure and a love letter to language. Alice Franklin will have you swinging from stitches to tears on the uneven path to finding a life that fits, even when you yourself do not.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316576055
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	02/11/2025
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	3.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Alice Franklin lives and works in London. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Life Hacks for a Little Alien is her debut novel.
 

Editorial Reviews

12/02/2024

Franklin’s fresh debut, inspired by her experience with autism, centers on an unnamed girl in southeast England known as Little Alien. She has only one friend, a boy named Bobby who stood up for her once at her previous school. As part of her desire to understand the greater connections between herself and life on Earth, Little Alien latches onto the 15th-century Voynich Manuscript, an indecipherable text believed by some to have been written by extraterrestrials. Hoping to translate it, she delves into the study of linguistics, and she and Bobby sneak off to London to see the manuscript while it’s on loan at a university. Their adventure sends their parents into fits of anxiety, particularly Little Alien’s mother, who suffers a mental breakdown. After she’s institutionalized, Little Alien schemes to break her out. Franklin delightfully renders her neurodivergent protagonist’s attempt to make sense of what’s “normal” and to understand how language works, as when she asks about the word interactive, “Does ‘inter’ mean between, just like ‘international’ means ‘between nations’? Does ‘active’ mean ‘exercise’? What would ‘between-exercise’ mean?” This has plenty of heart. Agent: Lisa Baker, Aitken Alexander Assoc. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

An extraordinary debut about a little girl who feels alone in our world, Life Hacks for a Little Alien made me laugh, tear up, and feel hopeful. I love our Little Alien, the protagonist who sees the world with a remarkable wisdom that comes from her innocence and honesty, and I wish she were real so I could tell her how much her story is a perfect read for anyone who’s ever felt different, misunderstood, or lonely—that is, for everyone.”—Angie Kim, author of Happiness Falls and Miracle Creek

“Unique and thoroughly engaging. Life Hacks for a Little Alien tells a story about feeling different. It is insightful and funny and gently poignant. By telling the story of one little alien, Alice Franklin has told the story of many. By creating a character obsessed with an ancient manuscript whose text cannot be deciphered, she has illuminated the power of language and our desire, whether we are human or alien, to be understood. I was reading other books when I picked this up, but after reading the first page I could not put it down—the other books had to wait.”—Pip Williams, New York Times bestselling author of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words

“Franklin’s fresh debut, inspired by her experience with autism, centers on an unnamed girl in southeast England known as Little Alien. . . . Franklin delightfully renders her neurodivergent protagonist’s attempt to make sense of what’s 'normal' and to understand how language works. This has plenty of heart.”—Publishers Weekly

"Originality and cerebral playfulness combine with affecting family drama to make a satisfying, lively novel."

—Kirkus Reviews

“A hymn to language, human uniqueness, and our fundamental need to connect, Life Hacks for a Little Alien speaks to the little alien inside all of us. Immersive, moving, and fizzing with humor, I couldn’t put this book down and I still can’t let the character go. Alice Franklin has written a tender and important story about difference and acceptance, and above all, the power of friendship. I absolutely loved it.”—Paula Lichtarowicz, author of The Snow Hare

"Wise and playful and tender and beautiful. A very special book."

—Bobby Palmer, author of Isaac and the Egg

"A rare energy lights this wonderful book: a unique recipe of humor, heart, frankness, and an unstoppable fascination with language."—Han Smith, author of Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking

"This is one of those rare books that is so brilliant, so original and lovely and funny, that it reminds you of the point of reading, and renews your faith in fiction. I adored it. I'm going to be recommending it to everyone I know, friends and enemies alike (even bad people should have good things). I laughed frequently while reading it, and was moved, and interested, and changed."—Rebecca Wait, author of I'm Sorry You Feel That Way

"Alice Franklin is a new writer that should be on every 'Books of 2025' list. Reading Life Hacks for A Little Alien, I was blown away by its stunningly original approach to the literary form. It's one of those books which left me closing the final page and wishing I could read it afresh again for the first time. Beautiful, moving, and life-affirming, Alice Franklin's prose is a triumph to read. Totally addictive and brilliant. The prose flows like Paul Murray's The Bee Sting via Ruth Ozeki's The Book of Form and Emptiness, which is to say: Life Hacks for A Little Alien is sure to find its place as one of the best loved works of fiction."—Aimee Walsh, author of Exile

"I finished Life Hacks for a Little Alien last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it to be witty, bold, heart-warming and entirely delicious. I devoured it. I also found Little Alien to be one of the most memorable and charming characters I've ever come across."—Jyoti Patel, bestselling author of The Things That we Lost

From the Publisher

Sally Phillips's heartfelt performance of this novel has perfect pacing and inflection. From Little Alien's first attempt at language, listeners sense something extraordinary about her. The story's narrator, an analytical linguist, breaks down Little Alien's sentences with empathy, while Phillips's detached tone and well-timed pauses emphasize the complexities of English and the narrator's snarky undertones. Music and reading recommendations at the end of each scene enhance the novel's intrigue. As Little Alien matures, she navigates friendships, family dynamics, and school, all of which reveal her struggles with language. Phillips's mastery of cadence deepens the emotional connection to Little Alien, making her journey relatable and poignant. This performance brings the story's layers to life beautifully. S.K.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2024 - AudioFile

2025-01-18
In this debut novel, a British girl grows up half believing she’s an actual alien because she views the world so differently than other children.

An unnamed, omniscient narrator tells the 3-year-old girl the story of her life to come. Franklin hits all the notes common in novels about children on the spectrum or having “issues.” Little Alien, as the narrator calls her, is bullied by other children and by teachers, reads situations with an eccentric yet oddly insightful literalness, and acts out her frustration with guttural noises. Yet the book’s tone and structure offer unexpected surprises. The narrator addresses the novel directly to Little Alien and also includes numerous footnotes that define terms, suggest further readings, and explain complex concepts to both Little Alien and the reader as the novel evolves into a deep dive into an actual, somewhat academic, ongoing mystery surrounding the Voynich Manuscript, an illustrated codex discovered in 1912 and now residing at Yale’s Beinecke Library. Dating from the 1400s, the manuscript includes odd pictures and writing in a language no one has yet decoded. At 12, Little Alien happens upon a television interview in which the widow of a Voynich researcher mentions that her husband believed the manuscript was the work of aliens. Little Alien’s interest is piqued. Until now she has suffered through childhood discounted as an oddball at school while coping with her mother’s bouts of mental illness at home (fortunately aided by her sane, loving, understandably anxious father). Discovering the Voynich Manuscript changes her life, giving her not only a sense of direction but a pathway toward friendship and self-acceptance. Along the way she meets a series of unlikely protectors, not least a linguist who sees nothing alien about her new protégé. The writing can be a bit arch, and sometimes repetitive, but these are minor quibbles.

Originality and cerebral playfulness combine with affecting family drama to make a satisfying, lively novel.

Kirkus Reviews