The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole

Michelle Cuevas

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK
• eBook ISBN:
  9781471170195
• Year: 2018

"So wait,” said Cosmo. “If we go in that door, we might exit on the other side of the galaxy?”'
“I don’t know,” I said. “But we currently live in a tub in a black hole, so what do we have to lose?”

When eleven-year-old space mad 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 theugly 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 realizes 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…

From the author of Confessions of an Imaginary Friendcomes an astonishingly original and funny adventure with a great big heart. 

Praise for Confessions of an Imaginary Friend:
‘Cuevas’s novel brimming with metaphors, gorgeous imagery, and beautiful turns of phrase considers the fate of devoted but invisible companions. Have tissues on hand for the bittersweet ending.’ Publishers Weekly, starred review 
‘Alternately amusing and philosophical, this quirky read will get kids thinking about love, loss, and life’ Booklist
 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Chapter One: The Mysterious Something That Followed Me Home
• Chapter Two: Hello, Darkness
• Chapter Three: Things I Know About the Thing
• Chapter Four: The Voyager & The Clawfoot
• Chapter Five: A Beginner’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of Black Holes
• Chapter Six: The Time Traveler
• Chapter Seven: Think Like a Proton
• Chapter Eight: My Very Good, Very Bad Black Hole
• Chapter Nine: The Black Hole Who Ran Away
• Chapter Ten: The Black Hole Who Ate the World
• Chapter Eleven
• Chapter Twelve: The Black Hole Who Came Home
• Chapter Thirteen: The Black Hole Who Disposed of My Problems
• Chapter Fourteen: The Black Hole Who Consumed My Broken Heart
• Chapter Fifteen: The Black Hole Who Swallowed a Bug
• Chapter Sixteen: A Dog of No Name
• Chapter Seventeen: The Black Hole Who Devoured My Reality
• Chapter Eighteen: The Black Hole Who (Accidentally) Ate a Dog
• Chapter Nineteen: Spaghettification
• Chapter Twenty: The Black Hole Who Ate . . . Me
• Chapter Twenty-One: The Black Hole Who Snacked on a Tub
• Chapter Twenty-Two: Larry to the “Rescue”
• Chapter Twenty-Three: The Voyage of The Clawfoot
• Chapter Twenty-Four: Captain’s Log
• Chapter Twenty-Five: The Galactic Garbage UFO
• Chapter Twenty-Six: The Not-So-Triumphant Return of Storm Neptunian
• Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Puzzle Called Home
• Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Escape
• Chapter Twenty-Nine: Flat Giraffes and Cardboard Moons
• Chapter Thirty: The River of Words
• Chapter Thirty-One: Stellarium
• Chapter Thirty-Two: A Reading from The Book of Stella
• Chapter Thirty-Three: To the Singularity
• Chapter Thirty-Four: A Hamburger on a Ferris Wheel
• Chapter Thirty-Five: The Memory Keeper
• Chapter Thirty-Six: A Recording, Part One
• Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Recording, Part Two
• Chapter Thirty-Eight: Shades and Hues
• Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Black Hole Who Saved Me
• Chapter Forty: The Black Hole Who Said Good-bye
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix: A Beginner’s Guide to The Care and Feeding of Black Holes
• Copyright