Open Book Interview: Alice Franklin
Alice Franklin lives and works in London. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Life Hacks for a Little Alien is her debut novel.
When Little Alien, a lonely girl who doesn’t see the world like the other children seem to, sees a late-night TV special introducing her to the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, she experiences something she hasn’t before: hope.
Are there others like her who also feel like they’re from another planet? Life Hacks for a Little Alien is a moving coming-to-age novel about what it feels like to grow up neurodivergent.
Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra because I thought she’d like it.
The ability to speak, read, and write any language.
I ate a sandwich from a place called Max’s Sandwich Shop. It had spring rolls and kimchi in it. I don’t know who made it. Maybe Max?
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“An extraordinary debut that made me laugh, tear up, and feel hopeful.” —Angie Kim, author of Happiness Falls
“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.
