The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas

From Goodreads,

A girl's friendship with a lonely black hole leads her to face her own sadness.

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."

Goodreads - The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole

During the winter months, I feel like I fall into a black hole.  Time seems to drag on, everything is drab and dark, and I fall into a "lack of warmth and sunshine" depression.  So I am very excited that summer is right around the corner.  I bought this book a few months ago because the cover was cute and the title was interesting.  I quickly realized that this book took an interesting approach to depression and grief.

Stella wants to see Carl Sagan at NASA.  She wants to give him a recording of her dead father's voice so it can go on the Golden Record that is being launched to space.  After being turned away Stella goes home only to find that something has followed her.  She soon finds that a black hole has followed her home and quickly becomes her pet.  Stella starts to train the black hole she names Larry, and she feeds it things to help her feel better about her dad being gone.  Overtime Larry grows and eventually swallows Stella and her brother Cosmo.  The two must work together to escape Larry and get home.

This book was so adorable.  It had fun illustrations throughout the book that absolutely added to the entire story of Stella and Larry the black hole.  I love that Michelle Cuevas represented depression and grief as a black hole.  It is a VERY kid-friendly way to represent being more than just sad.  Stella's dad died and she is trying to learn to cope and grieve.  Things about her dad make her sad and she doesn't want to feel that so she puts those memories and things away, or as represented in the book, she feeds it to the black hole.  Stella soon learns that when she doesn't think about these things she starts to really lose the memories.  As time passes she learns she needs to experience these emotions so she doesn't forget and so she learns to cope with what is going on.  When our English Bulldog passed away I was absolutely heartbroken.  Like sobbing at all hours at any little thing that reminded me of him.  It's been two and a half years and sometimes it is still hard for me to talk about him, but it does get easier.  I can now look at pictures of him and miss him, but I don't break down sobbing because I miss him.  There are most definitely days though.  And I think that is what this entire book was about.  That you have to grieve and learn how to continue living.  That there will in fact be hard days, but it will get easier.

I know that it wasn't an important piece of the book, but I really wondered the entire time what happened to Stella's dad.  It never told how he died and my nosey self really wanted to know what caused him to die.  I feel like it was a minor detail that should have been included to really paint a picture of Stella's situation.  Was it an unexpected death like a car wreck?  Or was it an illness that had been going on for some time?  I think it is important to know if Stella had had time to say a proper goodbye or if he was taken so suddenly that she never said goodbye.  I just like for books to be fully rounded so that I get all the necessary details for the story, and unfortunately, Stella's father's death was a big piece of Stella's story. 

This was a really good book with cute illustrations and even a middle section of black paper when Stella was first in the black hole.  I think this will be a well-enjoyed addition to my classroom library.  I give this 3.5 stars.  It wasn't quite a 4, but it wasn't a mediocre 3.  Anyone who is dealing with depression or grief will find this book relatable and possibly helpful.