Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin is a poignant novel about a little girl on the spectrum growing up with her family. Throughout the book, you'll travel with her from her toddler years to teenage years. I truly found it so unique that this story was told in the second person narrative. How empowering to be nestled in this story in such a fascinating and transparent fashion.

Throughout the book, we never discover "Little Alien's" name, instead we are given the ability to see how her parents treat her, how adults react to her, and how her intelligence is underestimated. I love that Franklin also layered in "Little Alien's" obsession with the Voynich Manuscript, as this was so unique yet so common to some who lives life on the spectrum.

All around, Little Alien is an engaging and unforgettable narrator. She just has a way of stating this in a blunt, yet charming fashion that can leave you to woner their interpretation. Reading this book, feels almost like a play at times with yourself set in the central character, making you wonder how you would react to the situations Little Alien finds herself in.

This is an unique debut that is both compelling and profound. If you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant, this will be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for the chance to read and review this book.

I went in solely by title. I was instantly in love with our MC. They don't know why they feel the way they do. They just know it's a bit alien. And I never connected more with a character. It's so reflective on growing up neurodivergent without the term/diagnosis. Being a kid is hard, not knowing things, but your parents also not knowing things is even harder.
Heartfelt throughout it all. I loved this

This Debut novel really, really tugged at my heart strings! I loved getting to know the main character, Little Alien. She is so tough and observant and getting to live her perspective was truly eye opening. This story had moments of strive, where I wanted to wrap little alien up in my arms and run away with her, and also profound moments of hope, kindness, and humanness.

I really enjoyed reading this one immersively, the audio really captured the story beautifully.

With LIFE HACKS FOR A LITTLE ALIEN, Alice Franklin drops the reader into a fantastically well-developed universe of a differently wired child making sense of the world around them, drawing us into what they see and how the world feels to them--an utterly charming and unique take on books, c0ming of age, and finding your own place in a wild, weird world with a friend by your side. I laughed, swiped away tears, and came away delighted to have made the acquaintance of a talented writer in this lovely story. A terrific book club read destined for deep, wide-ranging discussions. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien is such a unique novel. While I am almost never a fan of second-person narration (“you”), it really works here for placing the reader right into the shoes of the main character, who has autism.

You will viscerally experience her confusion, discomfort and uncertainty—as well as her passion when she finds something that ignites her interest. Your heart will break when adults (even teachers) mistreat her, and you’ll cheer as she finds a friend.

(Speaking of adults—there are so many who fail the main character in this story! From a mother with severe mental illness to heartless teachers to a rude librarian, our poor main character goes through the wringer.)

Read if you love:
📚Quirky novels with unique features like footnotes and related reading
📚 Books that put you right in the character’s life circumstances
📚Stories that increase empathy and understanding in a smart, sometimes humorous, way

I’m sure this could be a hard read for parents of children with autism, so if you’d like a small spoiler, keep reading:

***

Our main character finds a passion that leads to great opportunities for her, and you get the sense that she is going to be okay. More than just okay, really—her attributes and interests are uniquely valuable and open up some doors for her.

What a weird and poignant book.

I enjoyed the structure of the book, the unnamed, neurodiverse main character, the 2nd person narrative.

I enjoyed the glimpses at several points in Little Alien's life.

I enjoyed the strange Manuscript tangent, and the prospects it holds.

I LOVED the Extra Reading bit at the end of each chapter. They were both hilarious and clarifying.

Two quibbles: 1) I would have loved more with Bobby and 2) No (good) librarian would deny a known child access to books.

Looking forward to more from this author.

LIFE HACKS FOR A LITTLE ALIEN by Alice Franklin

Pub date: Feb. 11th, 2025
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Rating: 4 / 5


Have you ever been most assuredly convinced you're from another planet?

Little Alien is not like other children. She doesn't speak like they do (she hardly speaks at all); she doesn't understand what adults want (they really should be straightforward); she just isn't normal. When Little Alien learns about the Voynich Manuscript, which might be an extraterrestrial artifact, she decides it must have the explanation for her differences. In her manuscript research, Little Alien learns many things about language, history, and people. And yes, Little Alien learns a lot about herself too.

LIFE HACKS FOR A LITTLE ALIEN is a creative and heartfelt debut about journeying through life as a young neurodivergent person. Told in a unique second person narration, Little Alien's story unfolds from her preschool to preteen years. Little Alien is an endearing protagonist and her struggles are deeply complex. In addition to battles with miscommunication, social isolation, and personal failures, Little Alien's family also navigates her mother's declining mental health. Though Little Alien does not always understand the issues around her, readers get insight into the context of her situations through footnotes and interjections from the narrator. This structure helped develop the narrator as a character and made Little Alien feel all the more like a galactic specimen. Another highlight of the story is Little Alien's developed love for her local library and the beauty of language. LIFE HACKS is a must read for anyone wanting stylistic narratives, oddball characters, and hopeful endings.


(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars

If you are someone who has ever felt like you don't belong, or if you have ever felt "lost" or misunderstood, this book is for you.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien is an exploration and examination of a young, neurodivergent mind, as told through the voice of an omniscient narrator.

Little Alien is just trying to navigate the complexities of life while dealing with familial and worldly obstacles at every turn. But Little Alien has found solace within the stacks of the library, and a sense of purpose at the discovery of the Voynich Manuscript.

This story is funny and refreshing, while also heartrending and sincere. A must have for libraries; and a must read for anyone who seeks, or advocates for, understanding and acceptance.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for this digital Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a unique, short read combining a stand-out neurodivergent character with a love for language and learning.

I really enjoyed the second-person voice in this story. I found it clever and it really worked to experience the world like the main character. I also loved the humor in this one. I literally laughed out loud several times.

I found it slowed down in the middle which stifled the enjoyment a bit. I wished for more relationship building with the characters.

Fans of Emily Austin’s books, quirky characters, and books that celebrate libraries will enjoy this one.

If you've ever felt like everyone in the room is in on a joke you don't understand, you might relate to this book. Told in the second person ("You do this, they laugh at you. Your dad tells you to act normal." etc), it's easy to sink into the unsettling place of the nameless main character. There are laugh-out-loud bits of observational humor, broken up by a lot of heartrending misunderstandings and details about the little alien's family life (which is turbulent at best). This is about neurodivergence, mental health, family, friendship, and finding a place for yourself in a vast universe where everyone else seems to intuitively know where they fit. It seems less like fiction and more like memoir. It's the kind of book that hurts to read but you can't put it down.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

CWs - Ableism, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Paranoia, Bullying, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent

I had a difficult time with the writing. It was dry and slow. All in all, the book left me feeling discouraged because I never felt that I really understood what the book was trying to say. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC. this review is my own opinion.

Thank you to #LittleBrown and #NetGalley for the DRC of #LifeHacksforaLittleAlien. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

I love the premise of this book - the "little alien" is the neuro-divergent main character and the second-person narrator is teaching her how to interpret the world she finds so confusing. I really liked the main character and empathized with her struggles. I enjoyed the footnotes explaining the things she found so confusing and the suggested reading that tied back to whatever happened in that chapter. And I'd never heard of the Voynich Manuscript so I learned something completely new to me (win!).

But overall, this book fell a little flat for me. I wanted more about her family and her friend Bobby.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

Trying to think of how to review this book, and finding it somewhat difficult. It's written in the second person POV, which is unusual in and of itself, and consists of a narrator describing the life events of our nameless protagonist to... our nameless protagonist, it seems, who is definitely autistic and struggles to understand the world around her. I'd definitely recommend it, but I'm struggling to say exactly why or to who.

For sensitive readers, this book contains depictions of mental illness (not to be conflated with neurodivergence), neglect, abuse, and injury to children.

3.25 stars - I believe this just might be the first book I've book I've ever read in second person, and it took my brain a second to settle into the style without it detracting from the story. The protagonist's unending curiosity and desire to learn made for an interesting and charming main character while also playing perfectly into the 'little alien' description. However, aside from the protagonist and about three other people, I found it incredible difficult to like anyone else in the story. The adults at large seemed to have never interacted with a child in their life, and most of them should probably not be allowed around them any long. Maybe there's a bit of an unreliable narrator situation at play, but it made for a frustrating read whenever those characters were involved. Overall I found this to be an interesting - yet almost mundane - tale with a unique storytelling style.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really cute premise but I struggled a lot with this book. Second person is not my favorite (but better than first person plural, okay?) so that was a stumbling block for me. I also didn't understand the need for footnotes and "Further Reading" at the end of each chapter. What did that add to the story? But more than that, the adults in this book were horrible! Ignorant, horrible people. I tried to consider that the story is being relayed subjectively, but I couldn't get over how they treated both the main character and all the children. Why not clean up when a kid gets sick? Why tell them to eat around the ceiling parts in their lunch? Then blaming them for doing something you told them to do. I don't understand. Things got a little better once the Voynich Manuscript entered the story; however, it never went far enough with that plot to overcome all the issues I had with the book. Maybe it was me? Maybe I totally missed something here?

The protagonist reminded me of myself a bit, in both the charming and not so charming parts. I really enjoyed and identified with her journey to try to understand herself and the world around her.

An unnamed narrator tells the story of how she sees the world throughout her childhood. She knows it's not quite how everyone else does, and she feels rather alone until she happens across a documentary about the Voynich Manuscript. She dives into research learning all she can about the manuscript and linguistics, which I absolutely loved. it's never explicitly stated, but it's clear that Little Alien is on the autism spectrum.

I really liked this one a lot more than I expected I would. The recommended reading and footnotes at the end of each chapter were a lot of fun. I loved the writing style and use of second person. The feeling of "otherness" and distance really comes through in a way that still endeared me to her. I laughed and teared up a little in parts and felt the frustration in others Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown and Co. for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Life Hack for Little Aliens is a heartwarming and touching read. Despite the review blurb, I don’t think it quite measures up to Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures, but it’s still a very good book. The main character, a neurodivergent person, Little Alien, struggles with feeling like she doesn’t quite belong—a theme that’s both relatable and moving. I loved the inclusion of footnotes (always a fun touch in fiction!), which added to the book’s charm. Her discovery of an undecipherable manuscript becomes a metaphor for her own journey, as it makes her believe there must be others like her out there. With its touching humor and heartfelt storytelling, this book is definitely worth picking up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so good! It reminded me of Emily Austin in the best way. The characters were so well written it was hard not to love them - quirks and all. A gem of a novel!

*Thank you to Little, Brown & Company, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for access to the advance reading copy and advance listening copy for this book!

What a gem of a story!
First and foremost, this is one of the best audiobook experiences I have had as a reader. The narration by Sally Phillips is absolutely brilliant! This book has a wonderfully singular main character and utilizes a unique style of storytelling. It requires a narrator that has the skill to properly emote for the main character and a narrator that can appropriately implement the many (and really enjoyable) footnotes included in the text. Phillips shows mastery in inflection and brings so much to the book with her beautiful narration.
Our main character: We must protect her at all costs. She is so fantastically characterized by author Alice Franklin. While it seems clear that our main character is very personal to this book's author, she's also somehow endlessly relatable. Experiencing the way in which she's spoken to, spoken about, and treated throughout this story, the reader wants nothing more than to protect her. This leads to a rightfully emotional conclusion to this book, which I was so appreciative of.
This story is incredibly bingeable and endlessly entertaining. Please consider finding the little alien in yourself by reading this book!