Book Review - The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole

Hi, Readers!

Today you get a review from one of the best reviewers out there – a fourth-grade student! Ellis and I read The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas last week and we wrote down some of our thoughts. Enjoy!

What is this story about? 

• Ellis’ answer: It is about a girl named Stella Rodriguez and a black hole follows her home. She finds out that it can get rid of bad memories. And changes her mind of how bad she thought they were and tries to get them back. Will she get them? Who knows... read the book to find out!
• Mrs. Kuehler’s answer: The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole is about a young girl named Stella. Stella is grieving the loss of her father and the story is told in the second person as if Stella is talking to her father. Stella and her father have a close connection and often bonded over science. Especially anything that had to do with space. One day, Stella unexpectedly comes home with something unique - a stray pet black hole! Stella tries to tame the pet black hole and ends up losing something special (actually many special things) in the black hole. How will she get them back? What happens if she goes in the black hole? Eventually, Stella and her little brother Cosmo end up falling in the black hole to try and retrieve what was lost. This is the story of what Stella discovers about herself and her own personal black hole that has been plaguing her since the death of her father.

• Have you ever had a similar experience to the main character in the book?
• Ellis’ answer: No I have not had any big losses in my family like her. But, I have had a dog die ): so kind of yes, kind of no but I did cry but that day we were writing a story about a pet we have and I got tears in my eyes but did not cry. So I say kind of.
• Mrs. Kuehler’s answer: Fortunately, I have not had a loss like Stella did when her father passed away. I cannot imagine how difficult that would be, especially for someone young! Growing up, my grandmother (father’s mother) passed away when I was in 6th grade and I had a hard time accepting that death. It’s hard to deal with the fact that you will not be able to see, touch or hear that loved one again in your own lifetime.

• Would you do anything differently if you were the main character?
• Ellis’ answer: Yes I would I would probably not go into the black hole (aka Larry) in the first place. And not bring the black hole into my house. Too scary, for me. And if my dad died I would want to keep everything that I did with him.
• Mrs. Kuehler’s answer: I am a scaredy cat, so I would probably NOT go into the black hole either! I was really amazed at how calm Stella seemed when she was in the black hole! However, if she didn’t go into the black hole, the book would not have been as good!

• What did the main character learn?
• Ellis’ answer: Some things are more important than you think.
• Mrs. Kuehler’s answer: I agree with Ellis… I think the main character learned that the decisions we make when we are thinking irrationally can be a huge mistake. In her grief, she threw away special memories into the black hole and realized that they were irreplaceable to more than just her.

• Were you sad when the book ended? Why or why not?
• Ellis’ answer: I was sad but in a good way.  Was happy for her to see her dad well in her memory and how they were saying jokes together and when they saw their mom and how they gave her a big hug for being a good mom(: (: (:.
• Mrs. Kuehler’s answer: I was kind of sad. I liked the ending, but I wanted to spend more time with Stella, Cosmo and even Larry!

• What did you learn from reading this book?
• Ellis’ answer: Respect all memories like their treasure.
• Mrs. Kuehler’s answer: I learned quite a few facts about space, black holes, NASA, and stars! I didn’t learn everything from the book, but a few times when the book would mention a certain topic, I would Google it because I was curious to learn more! I even ordered a non-fiction book on black holes for the classroom. I can’t wait to read it!

• What do you think will happen to the characters after the end of the book? What are they doing now?
• Ellis’ answer:  I think Stella and Cosmo are playing together in their backyard with Sagan. Or maybe just talking to their mom about how they want a cat now. Ha ha!
• Mrs.Kuehler’s answer: I think that Stella is working hard in school, especially science. I hope she is planning to go to college and someday work for NASA! I think that Cosmo is playing with Storm Neptunian and is probably a big fan of Star Wars!

• Would you recommend this book to others? Why or why not?  
• Ellis’ answer: Yes, I would recommend this book to others because it is funny, daring and all out just plain old good. I mean, man this book is good awesome!
• Mrs.Kuehler’s answer: Absolutely!! I loved that this book was kind of science fiction because that is a reading gap for me. I’m not normally a big fan of science fiction but I LOVED this book so much! I have already recommended it to so many people!

Definitely check out this book if you like an adventure story and/or space stories! Let us know if you do!