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Sign up todayLife Hacks for a Little Alien
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Learn moreThis “unique, engaging, and insightful” (Pip Williams, author of The Dictionary of Lost Words) novel about one little girl’s obsession with a mysterious manuscript is a love letter to language—how it shapes the world for each of us and connects us all in the end. Perfect for readers of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Remarkably Bright Creatures.
“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 narrator is only a lonely little girl living in southeast England, 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 turns to the place she feels at peace: the library. What she learns there sets Little Alien and her best (and only) friend Bobby on a course toward finding this strange book. Where it leads them will change everything.
Narrated by an unexpected guide who has arrived to offer Little Alien the advice she’ll need to find her way, Life Hacks for a Little Alien explores a less-usual experience of the world with heartbreaking empathy. Inviting us into the head of a child who doesn’t read her surroundings the way we might assume, Alice Franklin will have readers swinging from stitches to tears on the uneven path to finding a life that fits, even when you yourself do not.
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.
Reviews
"Wise and playful and tender and beautiful. A very special book."
—Bobby Palmer, author of Isaac and the Egg "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 “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 "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 “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 Expand reviews