The Star Beast is a 1954 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about a high school senior who discovers that his extraterrestrial pet is more than it appears to be.

John Thomas Stuart XI, the teenage protagonist, lives in a small Rocky Mountain town, Westville, caring for Lummox, an extraterrestrial beast his great-grandfather had brought home.

His girlfriend Betty Sorenson joins him and suggests bringing the beast back into town and hiding it in a neighbor's greenhouse.

Meanwhile, at the Earth government Department of Spacial Affairs, Mr. Kiku, the Permanent Undersecretary and an expert diplomat, is dealing with the Hroshii, a previously unknown, advanced and powerful alien race.

At the insistence of Lummox, the newly married John and Betty accompany her back to the Hroshii homeworld as part of the human diplomatic mission.

Many of science fiction's triumphs, even from as little as ten years ago, are unreadable today; they were shoddily put together, not meant for re-use.

Of significance on the omitted page is that: The diary skipped a couple of days; the Trail Blazer had made an emergency raise-ship and Assistant Powerman J. T. Stuart had been too busy to write.

The history, as reprinted in the paperback and Science Fiction Book Club editions, then resumes with John Thomas Stuart, Junior.