Life Hacks For a Little Alien

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. -- Pip Williams, New York Times bestselling author of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words
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. I laughed frequently while reading it, and was moved, and interested, and changed. -- Rebecca Wait, author of I'm Sorry You Feel That Way
Wise and playful and tender and beautiful. A very special book -- Bobby Palmer, author of Isaac and the Egg
Stunningly original . . . 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 . . . Life Hacks for A Little Alien is sure to find its place as one of the best loved works of fiction. -- Aimée Walsh, author of Exile
Witty, bold, heart-warming and entirely delicious. I devoured it. I found Little Alien to be one of the most memorable and charming characters I've ever come across. -- Jyoti Patel, author of The Things that we Lost
A life-affirming, charming book full of wonders, a love letter to language and its power of connection and a must-read -- Sally Phillips
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 humour, 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
A rare energy lights this wonderful book: a unique recipe of humour, heart, frankness, and an unstoppable fascination with language. -- Han Smith, prize-shortlisted author of Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking
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, New York Times bestselling author of Happiness Falls and Miracle Creek
Franklin's fresh debut, inspired by her experience with autism, centres on an unnamed girl in southeast England known as Little Alien . . . 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 . . . 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 *
We adore this audio that will make you smile and cry in equal measure . . . this captivating debut is a love letter to language, human individuality and togetherness. * Sunday Post *
Every once in a while, a novel comes along that so perfectly paints the world through a pair of young eyes, it makes me feel like I'm once again observing the world with the perceptiveness of a child. Life Hacks for a Little Alien takes the fundamentally tender experience of childhood. -- Audible (Editors select February 2025)
Thought-provoking * Daily Mail *

Franklin certainly deserves to be mentioned in the company of Mark Haddon and Gail Honeyman, while having found her own, entirely distinctive voice, thanks to her inspired decision to tell the novel in the second person. It's a striking effect: the 'you' of the narrative is the 'Little Alien', while the
narrator, we sense, is also her; we see events both through her eyes and as outside observers. We are close enough to her to feel her sadness, anxiety and isolation, and detached enough to enjoy the comedy of her idiosyncratic perceptions. Little Alien is not the only unusual person here: everyone in Life Hacks is either distressingly (her mother) or enjoyably odd. A lovely debut.

-- Nicholas Clee * BookBrunch *
This sparkling and stirring novel is an incredibly special debut * Love Reading *
If you have had an Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine gap in your life for a while, then this might be the answer . . . it has the same sense of sage and spirited originality that brings total joy to the reading experience . . . A charming, witty and moving novel . . . Fizzes with energy. * Platinum (Book of the month) *
It might still be too soon in the year to call it, but this looks set to be one of the most affecting and original reads of the year. * Marie Claire *