Life Hacks for a Little Alien
-
-
3.0 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
This charming, witty, and life-affirming novel follows Little Alien as she discovers an ancient manuscript that changes her life—lightheartedly representing what it feels like to grow up neurodivergent. Perfect for readers of Matt Haig and Shelby Van Pelt.
“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.
"An extraordinary debut that made me laugh, tear up, and feel hopeful." —Angie Kim, author of Happiness Falls
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful!
Such a warm, beautiful story that makes whimsical use of the English language all while sharing a heartfelt story of someone trying to find their place in the world. Highly recommend!