A change in classroom seating arrangements challenges old habits and leads to a new friendship in this funny new school story.

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.

"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

An acclaimed and award-winning author of books for both adults and children, Anne Fine was the second Waterstones Children’s Laureate holding the post from 2001 to 2003. Fine began writing in the 1970’s and since then has written more than seventy books for children of all ages as well as novels for adults. Amongst her best-known works are Goggle-Eyes, which won both the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the coveted Carnegie Medal, Flour Babies, which also won the Carnegie, Madame Doubtfire, later adapted into the hit children’s film Mrs Doubtfire, and Bill’s New Frock. In 2003 Anne Fine was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE.