The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole

How do you handle grief? How do you handle a dead dad and everything that reminds you of him?

Instead of making me laugh, this was funny and so sad, and it just got sadder. The way a child like Stella handles her dad being dead is so brutal and close to home. What can you do when all you have is memories?

Maybe you'd be better off without them?

No, not that either.

Stella wants to live in the memory of her father being alive, but sadly she cannot.

All she wants is to send her laughter, and her dad's laughter, into space.

Where there is a black hole, one full of wonderful wonderful things.

Bring tissues. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole is one of the best middle grade books I’ve ever read. The voice and style are amazing--I want to read everything by this author. In fact, the day we finished reading our library copy and returned it, we went to the bookstore to buy own copy.

I wouldn’t have thought it possible to tell the story of grief and loss of a parent in such a funny and fresh way. Yet, the author pulls it off in style, leaving us laughing and crying and very much identifying with Stella. Her grief is so large it becomes a black hole, consuming everything in her life. Rest assured, she finds a way through the grief and back out the other side--and you’ll definitely want to be along for the ride. Normally, I recommend show more middle grade books for middle grade readers, but I think everyone should read this one. It’s a thoughtful way to begin a conversation about loss and grief with a child or teen. If you have a child, work with children, or have ever been a child, I encourage you to get a copy of the book and read it asap. show less

The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas
I picked this one up on a whim after seeing it pop up briefly in my twitter feed. I had no idea what it was a bout but I figured I was in for a whimsical hypothetical tale that would basically compare a raising a black hole to caring for a pet. I thought I was in for some humour and a light, easy read. It was some of those things but it was so, so much more.
Stella Rodriguez is a space loving, smart, funny eleven year old living in 1977. She has a mom and a little brother named Cosmo. Her Dad just recently passed away. Then after a quick trip to NASA she ends up with a black hole following her home. She quickly realizes she can train it and that when it "eats" things they just show more disappear into the nothingness. It is a great solution for garbage day, to dispose of annoying brother things, and to get rid of all the memories of her Dad that are so painful to remember. The thing is, you can't just dispose of these things in a black hole, eventually you end up in the black hole which leads to lessons learned and hearts mended.
The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole is a touching and heart warming story about loss, and healing. It gets to the heart of how we grieve and the heart breaking emptiness someones death can leave in our lives. It is the absolutely perfect story for anyone who may have experienced a recent loss but also a really great message for all of us because at some time we will all experience loss. show less

A very cute book, well illustrated and the message was hard hitting. The science setting to tell a story about grief works very well here. The black hole being used to represent her grief over losing her father works very well as a thematic parallel.

Adorable story with a very deep lesson in loss. Not really sure why it was set in the late 70s, though.

Excellent book about grief for middle grade!

Not my cup of tea.