Everyone has demons, but 15-year-old Eleanor can actually talk to hers. When her family moves to a new neighborhood, gender-questioning artist Eleanor thinks she can escape her past—and the secret she’s been carrying since she was little—but Creep won’t be left behind. He’s her childhood bestie and her only confidant. Always there: fish-bone teeth and gravel-voiced. The monster under her bed. The top-tier fan of all her nightmares who keeps her from what she wants most: a new start. Eleanor has anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and Creep. She doesn’t expect to make friends.

Then she meets Mia, a Black goth-girl lesbian in lipstick and army boots, and Virgil, a reformed bad boy with a stable full of horses. Thanks to her new friends, Eleanor begins to question everything. What love really looks like. Her own identity. Who she could be without Creep. Can she find the courage to share her story and be rid of him forever?

A queer coming-of-age in the tradition of Speak and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Angel Room explores the power and healing of authenticity. The redemptive nature of friendship. The strength and resilience needed to mend family bonds. And the courage it takes to realize that you deserve to be heard.

A psychological tale in a literary style, this book sifts the shadows and finds hope. With an nuanced and powerful reading by Skye Alley, The Angel Room may lead listeners into the dark, but it leaves the light on.