books - Scifi short story with a star in a jar

When I was in elementary school, I remember borrowing a science fiction short story collection from the library. It had a number of great stories in it, but I've never been able to find it as an adult.

This was in the early nineties but I think the book was published in the early eighties. I remember the name "Ben Bova" on the cover, so I assume he wrote one or more of the stories. I also remember one of the tales was about a boy who bought a make-your-own-star kit, which allowed people to construct a miniature star in a glass jar. He did as instructed at first, but eventually got bored and started feeding bricks and things into it. Catastrophe ensued.

Anyone know the name of the story, the author, or the collection?

Answer

It was called Bobo's Star!

This is where I have been going wrong. I read a lot of Ben Bova, and must have conflated the names in my mind. The actual book was a collection called Science Fiction Stories (Red Hot Reads), with the stories chosen by Edward Blishen.

Short story is the first one on the list here: http://casa.colorado.edu/~ajsh/astr2030_06/bhmovies.html

The collection is here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Fiction-Stories-Red-Reads/dp/0753410184

Thanks a lot to everyone who answered/commented. Sorry for the Ben Bova red herring....

Comments

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