A change in classroom seating arrangements challenges old habits and leads to a new friendship in this funny new school story from award-winning author Anne Fine.
At first Ben doesn’t want to sit next to Alice in the classroom. She’s scary and tells him off for his squiggly drawing and poor handwriting. She even points out his bad table manners. But when Ben starts to take Alice’s advice, he realises that she might have a point and discovers that sitting next to her isn’t so bad after all.
Particularly suitable for readers aged 7+ with a reading age of 7.
Anne Fine is one of Britain’s most distinguished writers for both adults and children. She has twice won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Award, as well as the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Smarties Prize and numerous other regional and foreign awards. She has twice been voted Children’s Author of the Year.
"At its heart, Next to Alice is a story about not judging people too quickly … [Gareth Conway's artwork] complements the story beautifully … it really does illustrate why Fine is considered one of the best children's writers around." – Trans-Scribe, blog
"Anne Fine successfully treads the fine line between showing her readers how, with a little effort, life can be rewarding without preaching or becoming didactic in tone." – A Library Lady, blog
