Seventeen-year-old Eli Barrett had the perfect life mapped out: mission, marriage, making his bishop father proud. Then his mother walked in on him kissing Michael, and perfect shattered into a million pieces.
Now Eli's trapped at Canaan Peak Ministries, a conversion therapy facility in the Utah desert where broken boys go to be "fixed." Here, surveillance cameras track his every breath while counselors speak of love as a disease and shame as the only cure.
It doesn't take long for Eli to learn that there’s nothing broken about the other residents—they're angry, brilliant, funny, and more alive than anyone Eli's known. There's Maria, who wears her trans identity like armor. Ollie, whose smile could power the desert sun. And dozens of others creating their own family in a place designed to tear them apart.
But when tragedy strikes and the facility's true methods are revealed, resistance becomes survival—and together they navigate impossible rules, forge unbreakable bonds, and plot an escape that will either set them free or destroy what's left of their lives.
Raw, witty, and inspired by real events, this is a story about finding hope in impossible places and family in unlikely faces.
I believe in the power of stories, but some realities can't wait for happily ever afters.
That's why 50% of all proceeds from The Academy For Broken Boys go directly to The Trevor Project's life-saving crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth. With LGBTQ+ young people four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, and 39% seriously considering suicide in the past year—one attempting every 45 seconds—this commitment isn't peripheral to this book, it's fundamental to its purpose.
The need has never been more urgent. With the U.S. government pulling funding from LGBTQ+ suicide prevention services just as crisis contacts have surged 700% since November 2024, The Trevor Project faces unprecedented demand just when resources are most strained. Meanwhile, over 1,320 conversion therapy practitioners continue operating across 48 states, and half of LGBTQ+ youth who want mental health care simply cannot access it.
The Trevor Project fights back on multiple fronts: providing 24/7 crisis support through phone, chat, and text; conducting groundbreaking research that shapes protective policies; training adults to create affirming spaces; and leading advocacy efforts that have defeated 94.5% of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the U.S.. Their work documenting conversion therapy's ongoing prevalence gives lawmakers the evidence needed to pass protective laws.
Every copy sold helps ensure that when a young person can no longer see a future for themselves, someone will be there to answer their call. Someone will tell them they deserve to exist exactly as they are. Someone will stay on the line until the darkness recedes, even just enough for one more day.
Your purchase matters. Not just to me as an author, but to the young people who will receive vital support because you chose this book.
Thank you for being part of something that transcends storytelling.
Alex Andrade-Walz grew up searching for authentic representation in literature. Finding few queer narratives that resonated with his experience, he made a promise to write the stories his younger self desperately needed.
When not crafting fiction, Alex is an accomplished marketing professional and startup mentor whose insights have appeared in publications including Forbes, Adweek, and TechCrunch. He lives in Seattle with his husband and their two spirited Yorkies who inspire chaos and creativity in equal measure. He’s a graduate of Seattle University, where he studied business and creative writing and later served on the board of the university's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center.
If you’d like to support me and this book, you can do so through the link below. Every donation helps bring Eli’s story to life—funding essential elements like cover art, voice talent for the audiobook, and getting the word out to the young LGBT readers who need this book the most. Your support transforms coffee into chapters and belief into books. Thank you for being part of this creation. 🙏
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