The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole

By: Michelle Cuevas

Narrated by: Laura Ortiz

A girl's friendship with a lonely black hole leads her to face her own sadness in this original, funny, and touching middle grade novel for fans of Crenshaw and Flora & Ulysses.

When eleven-year-old Stella Rodriguez shows up at NASA to request that her recording be included in Carl Sagan's Golden Record, something unexpected happens: A black hole follows her home, and sets out to live in her house as a pet. The black hole swallows everything he touches, which is challenging to say the least—but also turns out to be a convenient way to get rid of those items that Stella doesn't want around. Soon the ugly sweaters her aunt has made for her all disappear within the black hole, as does the smelly class hamster she's taking care of, and most important, all the reminders of her dead father that are just too painful to have around.

It's not until Stella, her younger brother, Cosmo, the family puppy, and even the bathroom tub all get swallowed up by the black hole that Stella comes to realize she has been letting her own grief consume her. And that's not the only thing she realizes as she attempts to get back home. This is an astonishingly original and funny adventure with a great big heart.

Critic reviews

Praise for The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole

"An original tale of family love, scientific passion, and a truly epic journey of self-discovery." —Kirkus

"As much a journey of grief and healing as a literal adventure, Cuevas's story is both touching and funny." —Booklist

A must read!

Great for young and old. So many lessons to learn from Stella’s relationship with the black hole. You could probably read this many times and get something different out of it each time! Aside from being a fantastic novel, the audible performance and narration of the story is top notch!

Imaginative Grief Story

Such great handling of grief. A really imaginative touch that I think kids will like - with some humor thrown in as well.

Amazing!

Beautiful! A page turner. Sweet, deeply wise, touching, exciting and funny! With so much to teach to children and adults alike.
A beautiful guide to dealing with grief in the form of a scifi story that doesn't disappoint in any way.
Beautiful heart felt reading.

Very good lessons

Deep one of the lessons is that you can’t bundle bad stuff inside or It will grow and you can’t throw it away because you’ll throw the good stuff away with it. Amazing book