Alive and Grinning has been written for the first year high school student who is a reluctant reader and who might be daunted by the commitment required to read the extended prose of a novel or even a novella. It follows a similar philosophy to Alive and Kicking.

It contains a vibrant, eclectic collection of short stories; stories told in verse, short playscripts and a story told in comic book form. The comic book story features King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail. Each story in the collection is illustrated in full-colour. A themes matrix will assist teachers with their planning and choice of stories for whole class study or to target individual students' interests.

The anthology is suitable for whole class study or as part of a wide reading program such as Literature Circles.

As part of the English Alive program, the novel has a number of accompanying worksheets, found in the English Alive Teacher Resource Book Phase 2, covering language, reading, thinking strategies, and an overview of the novel.