Silas on Sundays by Joel D Shoemaker Interview

Posted September 28, 2024 by Julie S. in Blog Tours / 0 Comments

Silas on Sundays

by Joel Shoemaker

Silas on Sundays is an engaging and beautifully illustrated story for kids about inclusivity, being yourself, and finding your faith community no matter who you are.

At home, Silas can use their imagination to be whoever they want to be. On Monday, Silas is a quarterback, scoring the winning touchdown. On Tuesday, Silas is an astronaut, discovering a new star. On Wednesday, Silas is a famous actor, winning an award on TV. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Silas can be a builder, a ballerina, or a baker!

But on Sundays, Silas has to go to church, where they have to sit still and wear uncomfortable clothes, and Silas doesn’t like that. Silas wishes they could be whoever they want to be on Sundays too.

But, like people, not every church is made the same. Join Silas as they find their place, even on Sundays.

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Silas on Sundays

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Praise for Silas on Sundays

“A charming story about finding your place.” –Kirkus Reviews
“Silas on Sundays by Joel Shoemaker is a powerful, necessary, and relevant book for children of all ages. It’s about a gender-nonconforming child, inclusivity, and finding your faith community. Its message celebrates being whoever you want to be and finding a place where you feel accepted, loved, comfortable, and appreciated for being just the way you are. This book will engage young readers’ curiosity and imagination. It contains awesome illustrations and inspires youngsters to be curious, confident, and brave enough not to accept going to places where they do not feel safe being who they are. Children who dislike attending church will relate to Silas’s story. It teaches them about self-love and staying true to themselves, no matter what. Silas on Sundays is also fun, engaging, and empowering. I highly recommend it.” –Readers’ Favorite 5-star review

Author Interview

Share some of your journey to publishing your children’s book.

I don’t think I really set out to publish, initially. I am a librarian and I have experience reading. Isn’t that how it always starts? My experience with reading as part of my career is now more than a decade of reading children’s and young adult books specifically relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience. In these books, the theme of faith seemed to always be handled in the same or similar ways. The lesbian or gay or bisexual or transgender or intersex or questioning teenager always left their faith, perhaps most often as part of their coming out experience. And, to be fair, this is the experience of many individuals. It just wasn’t mine. I am happily a member of an affirming-faith community and I am grateful that many of these places exist for teens and tweens, children and adults of the LGBTQIA+ community to take part in if they so desire. As such, my first book is one of the only works of fiction for teens and tweens that celebrates and affirms both faith and sexuality. And my third is a picture book that follows a gender nonconforming child to church. As to my second, well, it’s a short story collection about teeth.

Did you get to pick your illustrator? How do you feel about illustrations in children’s books?

My publisher, Wildling Press, worked with our illustrator. The illustrations of Silas are incredible and I think they are certainly critical to the work. Illustrations matter more than words, very often. I think our book is a true collaboration and I hope the families that read it feel the same.

Do you have a special connection with your children’s book topic or characters?

Certainly, I wrote bacon grief because I needed a book like it when I was a kid. It’s specifically written for reluctant readers. It’s silly. Hopefully it’s engaging. I just wanted it to entertain, primarily. And to find the kids that need it.

What do you hope to teach or inspire in children reading your book?

I guess I just want children, all of them, to know that they are valued. That their life experiences matter. That they matter and that their existence should be celebrated. I believe the kingdom of Heaven is for everyone. And I hope that my work ultimately might help people find happiness and self-worth.

About the Author

Joel Shoemaker has been a librarian for a decade and a magician for three. He lives in central Illinois with his husband, a frog, a fish, and his dog, Maximus. He consumes an inordinate amount of cheese.

www.itsjoelshoemaker.com

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