Life Hacks for a Little Alien

This book is just beautiful. I could not put it down. A unique character study of a "Little Alien" - a young girl who feels different from everyone, this book hit home for someone who is also neurodivergent. Though it isn't a typical story, and feels very much like it could be meandering, the narrator walking us through Little Alien and her feelings is a complex, subtle, and deep explanation of what it means. to feel different. I was emotional reading this novel, feeling both hope and anguish at different moments. This is an important insight into how different minds work, and a reminder not to judge what you see on the surface.

The exploration into language and what gives words meaning is a nice layer on top of the narrative.

While not for everyone, I still highly recommend this book, and applaud Franklin on a wonderful debut.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This novel is a quick read that is humorous, heart-warming, and serious. I cheered on the “little alien” as she learned, and found herself in the world. I think all readers can relate to this book. I look forward to reading more from Alice Franklin.

This was great! Parts of the coming of age themes reminded me of Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon . I could see this book becoming popular with book clubs, definitely purchase a copy for your library patrons!

This was really charming.

If you love the magic of language and words this book feels like a lover letter to them, wrapped up in a heartwarming story told through the eyes of a neurodiverse child.

A celebration on difference and being okay in our own skin, I can see this being a big hit.

I like books about neurodivergent people. I like books that send me down rabbit trails like researching the Voynich Manuscript. I like books that include libraries. I liked this book. But the epilogue left me confused. Don’t let that stop you from diving into the autistic world of a young girl, who comes of age through linguistics. Life Hacks for a Little Alien is a poignant tale about a girl who has a lot stacked against her but still manages to, well… I won’t spoil it by spilling the plot. The descriptions of her thinking processes are spot on for someone who is wired differently than most. The secondary characters are also typically trying to do what’s best but fumbling at every turn. Except Bobby. Gotta love Bobby.

I don’t like leaving Little Alien. It’s too soon. I earnestly request a sequel, Alice Franklin. Thank you to NetGalley for the prepub opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien was a delightful and quirky read that had me chuckling throughout. The concept of an alien trying to navigate the complexities of human life was both humorous and heartwarming. I loved the witty observations and the fish-out-of-water scenarios, like when the alien tries to understand the concept of "small talk" or figure out the proper way to eat a banana.

Franklin's writing is lighthearted and engaging, making it an easy and enjoyable read. The alien's perspective offers a fresh and often hilarious look at everyday human experiences, prompting readers to question their own assumptions and habits. The book is filled with charming illustrations that perfectly complement the text.

However, while the humor is spot-on, I felt that the plot could have been a bit more developed. Some of the "life hacks" were quite simple and obvious, and I would have loved to see the alien tackle more complex or unexpected challenges. Overall, Life Hacks for a Little Alien is a fun and lighthearted read that will leave you smiling.

This is such a cute and funny book! This story is relatable to anyone who has ever felt like that didn’t fit in and are desperately looking for someone to relate to. The main character of this book reminded me of Tina from Bob’s Burgers as an awkward and eccentric child that feels out of place due to her neurodivergence and views herself as an alien. One of my favorite parts about this book were the footnotes with each chapter that added to the concept of this book being a guide for the main character as the books walks through memorable moments of her childhood and adolescence. I did feel like the last part of the book was a little rushed, but overall I really enjoyed it and would recommend this book! Thank you to the publisher and author for exchanging this ARC with me for an honest review!

As a Brit living in the US, I loved this very ‘British’ book, the language and the setting of the story is spot on. I must admit that it took me a few pages to get into it and the writing style, but I was soon really enjoying reading about ‘little alien’ and her family and life. It is at turns funny and heart wrenching as it becomes clear that there are mental health issues through the family which seem to be dealt with in the worst ways.
Having said that the book has good heart as we navigate the life of the little girl (her name is never revealed).
I very much enjoyed learning about ‘little alien’ and I am now also very interested in the Voynich Manuscript!

Thank you so much for allowing me to advance read Life hacks for little alien! I thought it was quirky and fun! I especially loved the footnotes at the end of each chapter . What a clever idea. I found the way in which the book was written to be fascinating . At times I felt very sorry for the narrator and her life. Overall I will be recommending this book to my friends and fellow book junkies! Congrats Alice Franklin !

This was a solid story and compelling read. The main character is referred to as 'little Alien' throughout the book and we watch her struggle with fitting in and understanding both her family and her peers. Throughout the story we know that she is loved and supported by parents struggling to cope with their own challenging issues.

The Little Alien character also highlights how children who are different - in this case non verbal and with stimming behaviours - can be misunderstood and thought to be slow or unable to learn. Little Alien just trudges on and finds a way to make it work for her. Observing and adjusting as she needs to.

I liked that in the end it would all be okay for our Alien, her years of studying words and language and the manuscript made connections for her with a linguist from the university and a job as her assistant. A niche that would give her a safe place to be as an adult.

This is also a love story for librarians and libraries - places that are welcoming to all and full of interesting things. Reading books is a core part for the Little Alien, as well as her mother, and the suggested titles at the end of each chapter are cute.

"When the teacher is gone, you stand with your arms at your sides while you sway, wondering if 'Henry' is the collective noun for a group of feral children."

'Maybe you are not alone in the universe after all, Maybe you are just alone on Planet Earth.'

'So many people would kill for such a story, so many would love to know which years are going to be bad, which people are going to turn up and when and why.'

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

There was so much about this I loved. “Little Alien,” our unnamed protagonist, is so mighty. She’s tough, resilient, observant, and incredibly passionate about the indecipherable (and possibly extraterrestrial) Voynich Manuscript. Little Alien forms a beautiful friendship with a kindred spirit and together they embark on the sweetest journey, discovering more about their mysterious manuscript - and how to exist in a world that was not created with their best interests in mind. I loved the writing style of Life Hacks for a Little Alien and found it to be incredibly compelling. Profound and a bit odd, in all the best ways.

"Life Hacks for a Little Alien" is an engaging book about a different sort of little girl, one we would describe as neurodivergent, but who has not yet had the help or validation to know there are other people like her in the world. She finds hope and purpose through a late-night TV special and a mysterious manuscript. Highly recommended.! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Publish date is February 11th, 2025

Engaging, immersive, and original. A recommended purchase for collections where quirky women's fiction is popular.

This is a lovely, endearing little book - it’s not so much driven by a plot as it is of fictionalized memoir of sorts. I really enjoyed the voice and vibe, it created a rather unique style of storytelling that felt natural and engaging. The title character of this book is implied to be a young neurodivergent girl, though we never learn her name or those specifics. I suspect the target audience for this book is rather narrow, although I do not have any close family members or friends who experience life in the same way as Little Alien, yet I was able to relate to and love her all the same.

Many times, I wanted to reach through the screen and give Little Alien a hug - she’s a sweet, curious girl who tries her very best to understand the big world around her. The narrative style of storytelling had me feeling all the feelings she felt, shame, joy, confusion. Most of all, I felt strongly her frustration with the oftentimes cruel adults in her life, and loving parents who are simply ill equipped to manage her issues in communicating her thoughts and emotions.

Overall, I really enjoyed following Little Alien through her various adventures and experiencing them through her thoughts. She’s a very likeable character, and I’m left to wonder how she’s gotten on in her adult life. If there were more to come, I’d definitely read it!

side note: I had never heard of the Voynich Manuscript and was delighted to learn that it’s a real thing! How cool!

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very enjoyable, albeit quirky read. Reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Maid, and Interesting Facts About Space with the narrative qualities of Remarkably Bright Creatures, I found myself feeling deeply for “Little Alien”. Neurodivergence aside, life throws family challenges at her that any child would find confusing. I loved seeing the differences in how people react to differently minded people—which was realistic, disappointing, and uplifting all at once. Once again, I found as I read, that book people are the best people.

3.5 because the narrator took some getting used to.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐ 5

From one Little Alien to another.

I was lucky enough to be accepted as an ARC reader for this book! When I first saw this title I felt an instant connection as I refer to myself as an alien and quite frequently a “Little Alien”. I was so excited when I got the email saying my request was accepted.

I found pieces of myself while reading like when the narrator kind of goes off on mini tangents, it felt very relatable. I also related when Little Alien responds without talking and the adults around them get frustrated with them for not verbalizing their response, I still get that to this day as a 23-year-old. I really like how the book illustrates the disconnect that can come with neurodivergence and and neurotypical’s lack of understanding and unwillingness to learn. I found myself equally enraged and amused at the audacity of others in this book.

There was one chapter that focused entirely on the manuscript that I didn’t feel was necessary but I was here for it nonetheless.

This book was very healing to my inner child, as well as my present self. I felt very understood and seen.

Thanks to Little Brown and Co and NetGalley for this ARC of 'Life Hacks for a Little Alien' by Alice Franklin.

This is a lovely, poignant, sad, funny, and enjoyable book.

'Little alien' (we never learn her name) lives with her mother and father in southeast England. Her mother - a loving and hopeful woman - suffers from depression and other mental illnesses and her father - a loving and caring man - is an actuary. Both parents love their daughter but her mother's mental illness means that she's not as attentive as maybe she could be and her father's attention is split between taking care of her, her mother, and his job.

Although it's not explicitly stated, all of the descriptions of little alien point in the direction of her being somewhere on the autism spectrum and we experience her trying to make her way through childhood through that lens. Her autism is not recognized in school and, surprisingly, doesn't appear to be recognized much at home until much later in the novel. I don't know whether it's a case of her parents not wanting to acknowledge it or being too distracted by life to notice. Having been wrongly identified as a 'slow learner' little alien becomes obsessed with words and language and, by extension, the Voynich Manuscript, which she comes to think of as related to her - as she sees it - literal alien-ness.

She has a best friend - Bobby - and together they get into a couple of notable adventures which have a significant bearing on little alien's life in her earlier childhood and teenage years (and beyond, we suspect).

I found the family dynamic between little alien and her parents and between her parents very real and authentic. As I said above it's also - by turns - sad, poignant, and funny. It's very believable. Her treatment and her mother's treatment by society and the people who are part of the machine - schools, healthcare, policing - all seem right on the ball. Although it seems to be set beginning maybe 15-20 years ago, the consistent lack of empathy we witness throughout just seems to echo that lack of empathy which has become so prevalent in the past decade.

I very much enjoyed this hearbreaking and heartwarming book - thank you to Alice Franklin and her creativity.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC which is coming Feb 2025. I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this debut book however I ended up really enjoying it!

Life Hacks for Little Alien is a story told from the perspective of a young girl who feels like she is not human but doesn’t know why other than she isn’t like everyone. She struggles to speak and interact with others and therefore has decided she must be an alien. This is a story told from the POV of someone who clearly struggles with a disability but doesn’t know it as that or what it is. Therefore the writing is written in a way that is also different as if the main character is sharing their story in the way they best think.

Written with a lot of love and humor this one was really enjoyable for me!

I liked this book but I don’t see it as having a lot of potential for many audiences. The narrative trope of the narrator really worked for me, and the writing about childhood from a child’s perspective really felt authentic. But it wasn’t super memorable overall, the plot wasn’t dynamic enough. But I absolutely appreciate the chance to have read the ARC.

3.5*

Life Hacks for a Little Alien was a surprisingly compelling read and I got the same feeling I did after reading this as I did after reading Remarkably Bright Creatures.

The story starts with the nameless protagonist (referred to as little alien) as a toddler, and the narrative takes you throughout her childhood as she struggles with feelings of isolation and alienness. While it is never explicitly stated, it is obvious that little alien is on the autism spectrum as she struggles with speaking, and stims by making noises and rocking back and forth when stressed.

The storytelling really allows you to feel the depth of frustration that little alien has since as the reader you can see all of her thoughts and feelings, but she is hampered by the inability to express them verbally. When rationalized by little alien, her actions make perfect sense to the reader, but her limited explanations fail to satisfy the people around her. I especially appreciated this since it really exemplified how being not just a child, but a child with autism, caused people to infantilize her due to this communication barrier. The number of times people said "use your words" in this book still enrages me, which I think is the point.

I did find that the story dragged a little bit in the middle, and a lot of the narrative gets taken up by one of little alien's special interests. I wish her relationships would have been a little bit further developed, especially with her parents and friend Bobby.

I'm also not a big fan of second person narration and footnotes, but I did appreciate the purpose of having both.

Overall a solid read and I would definitely read another book by this author.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher (Little, Brown and Company) for this ARC!

Have you successfully recovered from your childhood trauma? Are you an autistic adult that was an autistic child? Be prepared to feel every type of way when you read this book!

At first look, this book could be mistaken for one that doesn’t really go anywhere, as it doesn’t follow the typical story structure we are so used to. However, in this one humble reviewers opinion, that first look could not be further from the truth.

This book reveals in layers a nuanced and complex view of someone who feels different, “other”. Someone who can NOT understand what compels people to say what they say or do what they do or how to react in a way that was randomly decided to be the socially correct way. Someone whose family is trying to figure them out, who loves them, who has issues of their own to contend with. It’s fascinating, it’s moving, the footnotes and suggested reading at the end of every chapter are fantastic and usually hilarious. I did not expect to be as enamored with this book as I ended up being.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin is an experimental and literary tale about a young human girl growing up thinking she is an alien. Starkly different from the world around her, she doesn’t quite know how to communicate her wants and needs in a way that is effective or conventional. It is not until she watches a documentary covering the conspiracy belief that the famed Voynich Manuscript might be unbreakable due to its alien language, that she sees herself represented.
This novel is a daring and extremely heartfelt read. The unnamed protagonist lives with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but no one in her life seems to connect her experiences and expressions to this disorder, leaving her with little resources and opportunities to communicate in the ways she needs to. Every adult in her life is either disinterested in her success in development, marks her as mentally “slow,” or is simply in denial about her very obvious differences between her and her peers. Some early parts of this novel are hard to read, as the reader feels the need to advocate on behalf of the protagonist, who cannot advocate for herself, especially in school situations, where she is constantly shoved into the wrong classes for the wrong reasons.
As someone who grew up on the autism spectrum myself (and who, like the protagonist, slipped through the cracks of diagnosis due to a myriad of reasons), I found the identity shaping and making in this novel to be a fantastic representation of my own experiences. I think every child feels this to some extent, but I imagine neurodivergent children feel this alien identity even moreso. For several years of my life, I was convinced that I couldn’t be the same as all these “normal” people, because my priorities and interests were so divergent; I was convinced I was actually a fictional character come to life, and that each book I read was a stepping stone in finding out with book I actually belonged in.
The most notable and most effective choice that Franklin employs in her writing is her use of the second person narrative structure. The narrator is actually the protagonist from the future, who has come to her past self to share her experiences and provide hope for her as she matures into her interests as a linguist and researcher. This small bit of magic frames the whole story, and leaves the reader with the impression that magic (and/or alien technology) may in fact be real. It is not only a woman reflecting on her experiences of growing up on the spectrum, but is also a cry of hope and resilience to the reader; we know she makes it through.
I truly enjoyed this read, and found myself aching for more time with our protagonist. I wanted to sit down with her and listen to her gush about linguistics and manuscripts, and be her friend in the same alien way that I know she would be mine.
It’s tough for us aliens out there, and Alice Franklin does an incredible job making us feel like we’re not really alone.

Before she becomes Little Alien, our narrator is just a lonely girl from southeast England who feels out of place, like she doesn’t quite fit into the world around her. One night, while watching a TV special about the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, something shifts—maybe she’s not as alone as she thought. Believing this strange book holds the answers, she and her only friend, Bobby, set off on a journey that will change everything.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin is a heartfelt debut—tender, bittersweet, and full of unexpected humor. This story follows Little Alien as she tries to make sense of a confusing world, one where people often don’t say what they mean and tend to misjudge her. Though others label her as “stupid,” she’s anything but. She’s sharp, curious, and sees the world in her own profound way.

Franklin beautifully portrays Little Alien’s intense focus on what truly fascinates her, something that will resonate deeply with anyone who has experienced or understands neurodivergence. In the end, it’s her love of books, the refuge of libraries, and the friends who really see her that help her navigate her path.

This novel is not just heartwarming—it’s a celebration of being different, of seeing the world through a unique lens. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories that make you laugh, think, and feel deeply.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company.