Today is brought to you by the number 5.

I'm pretty gobsmacked over here. We got news of the fifth review for ASK THE PASSENGERS, and this is a beautiful one from Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books, and it's another starred review. That brings us to five starred reviews for Astrid Jones and her airplanes.

 ★+★+★+★+★ 

I feel like thanking the whole world right now. Thank you, whole world.

 I get this question a lot: What's a starred review?
 Also this one: Isn't five stars better than one?
And this one: Why is it so cool to get a starred review?

 A star is something a traditional trade review venue gives a book that it thinks is of particular quality. For example, Booklist will review X number of books in their October issue, but only a few of those reviews will be starred reviews.

When you think of five-star reviews, you're thinking consumer reviews on Amazon or other reader websites. Those are cool places to review and keep track of books. But it's not quite the same as a trade review, because a trade review is published and sent to subscribers.

Deirdre-who-rocks.

Why is it so cool to get starred reviews? Because it's nice to know I'm creating good work. Some people measure their success in gold coins. I can't do that, so stars mean a lot to me.

All this defining aside, there are a lot of books that are awesome and do not get starred reviews. And there are books plenty of people don't particularly like that get them. And so, we're back to the same old review conundrum which is: The beauty is in the eye of the reader and you have to find out for yourself.

I don't ever expect a star. Hell, I don't really expect nice reviews. It always seems like a fluke to me because I can never tell if what I'm doing is working. <---author brain. And so, I am very grateful that reviewers have enjoyed ASK THE PASSENGERS this much so far. And so, we're back to thanking the whole effing world. Thank you, whole effing world.

So here's your snippet for the Oct. 1 BCCB review: 

★ “For kids still struggling with their own truths, it can be hard to believe how much light there is once you come out of the cave. This is a book that knows and understands that, and it’s one that readers will believe.”—Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books 

And here's your chance to win a signed ARC of ASK THE PASSENGERS. 

• Write me a powerful five-word-long sentence. 
• Five words only. 
• Don't forget to leave me your email address (at) (dot) if your entry doesn't have a link to a way to contact you. 
• Contest ends October 2, 2012 23:59EST. 
• If you tweet, blog, FB or spread the word in some other cosmic way, you will get an extra entry. Let me know under you entry. 
• We need 50 entries to make it happen. Spread the word!

 Here's my entry: I should be writing now.