Life Hacks For a Little Alien cover art

Life Hacks For a Little Alien

the tender and life-affirming debut, perfect for book clubs

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Life Hacks For a Little Alien

By: Alice Franklin
Narrated by: Sally Phillips
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

 'Wise and playful and tender and beautiful' Bobby Palmer
'So brilliant, so original and lovely and funny, that it reminds you of the point of reading' Rebecca Wait

'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'

From her first words to her first day at school, Little Alien can't help but get things wrong. She doesn't understand the world the way others seem to, and the world doesn't seem to understand her either. Her anxious mum and meticulous dad, while well-intentioned, are of little help.

But when Little Alien sees a documentary about the Voynich Manuscript - a mediaeval codex written in an unknown language and script - she begins to suspect that there are other people who feel just like her. Convinced that translating this manuscript will offer the answers she needs, she sets out on a journey that will show her a delicious taste of freedom.

So begins this charming, witty, and profoundly moving novel about the power of language, the wonder of libraries - and how to find a path that fits, when you yourself do not.

'Unique and thoroughly engaging. It is insightful and funny and gently poignant. By telling the story of one little alien, Alice Franklin has told the story of many' Pip Williams, author of The Dictionary of Lost Words

'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

'Immersive, moving, and fizzing with humour, I couldn't put this book down and I still can't let the character go' Paula Lichtarowicz, author of The Snow Hare

'A rare energy lights this wonderful book: a unique recipe of humour, heart, frankness, and an unstoppable fascination with language' Han Smith, author of Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking

'Witty, bold, heart-warming and entirely delicious. I devoured it' Jyoti Patel, author of The Things that we Lost ©2025 Alice Franklin Coming of Age Editors Select Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Voices Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Witty

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Lost Past of Billy McQueen cover art
Little Ghosts cover art
Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal cover art
Friends of Dorothy cover art
Allegedly cover art
Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things? cover art
The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up cover art

Critic reviews

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)
All stars
Most relevant
As an autistic parent of autistic kids I found this to be extremely relatable, funny, and touching. Sally Phillips' narration was spot on.

A relatable look inside an autistic brain

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book was exactly what I needed. I loved Sally’s reading of it, and will hear her voice when I now go on to read it myself.

It felt like an ode to special interests and language, and it was a very interesting look at a neurodivergent internal life, and experience of family, education and friendship.

Wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I got angry with lack of adults (except Dad) ability to suspend disbelief but pleased that some made the effort. Interesting range of people and operating skills. Most of all I liked the girl.
I liked also it being in the present tense - like you’re nestled, peeping over her right ear.
I didn’t want to put it down.😀

How difficult it is to navigate life differently.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.