Review of “Silas on Sundays” by Joel Shoemaker

Score: 93/100 (9.3 out of 10)

Joel Shoemaker put out yet another banger!
And, this time, it's a children's book!

Joel Shoemaker might just be the most successful LGBTQA+ author in the history of our contest. His approach to fiction (and writing in general) is positive, quirky, inquisitive, clever, and (usually) very humorous.

His books are almost always enjoyable and pleasant, even when they sometimes deal with sour topics like loss, sadness, and—in the case of this book—feeling ostracized or feeling like you don't belong.

Silas on Sundays is a clever and colorful LGBTQA+ book that follows a non-binary child named Silas who is wrestling with a range of conflicts stringing from their gender identity. Silas loves to do things that boys typically do, but also loves to do things that girls typically do. They love to wear things that boys typically wear, but also love to wear things that girls typically wear.

Silas also lives in a deeply religious, Christian family, which creates a conundrum as Silas fears their gender-identity will not be accepted by them and that they will be treated badly, if not disowned entirely. For that reason, Silas keeps their non-binary status a secret from their parents and comes up with different excuses not to go to church in order to avoid derision and persecution. The tragedy of all of this is that, although the reader can see the issue because we know Silas's thoughts, it goes unaddressed by the parents and the church throughout much of this book.

And it's not that Silas doesn't like God or the Christian faith. In fact, the opposite appears to be true. However, the fear of persecution is so great that Silas chooses to hide, flee, and avoid any and all contact with the faith.

Silas suffers in silence, not knowing if anyone will accept them or if salvation might still even be available to them.

The truth of the matter is this: Jesus didn't come to save the saved, nor did he come to save the perfectly perfect. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, whether they are straight, gay, male, female, non-binary, trans, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, free, or slave. This book does an incredible job at putting that message forward, at least by the end of it.

The book also does an interesting and valiant job a demonstrating how pronouns for non-binary and trans people are used, something which modern society is still learning and getting used to.

The highlight of this book has to be the illustrations by Taranggana. They are far from being the best in the contest, but they are definitely the best illustrations to be a part of a Joel Shoemaker book so far, and they're more than sufficient. They are colorful, distinct, and clearly portray what is going on.

If you're super conservative and old-fashioned, you'll either need to get off your high-horse and get with the times, or avoid this book at risk of disturbing your sensibilities. The truth of the matter is that non-binary and trans people are human beings too.

While this book isn't as hilarious or humorous as other works by the author, it is still clever, deep, and positive.

Follow the author here for updates on the release!