This is the story of the 2008 raid on the Yearning For Zion ranch by Texas and Federal Authorities told from the perspective of the most marginalized group of people caught up in the raid. This is the story of the boys.
The world looked on with unease and morbid interest, hoping the children would be "saved" from this fundamental religious sect they'd been born into. But even though the boys were children, they were treated as "perpetrators in training" and were forcibly detained at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch by CPS. This is their story of fear, hope, resilience, and faith.
A harrowing narrative delivered in the first person by Ammon Jeffs, the third-born son of Warren Jeffs, this story will make you question what lessons the US Government has learned about intervening to save innocent people caught up in the world of cults.
Ammon's world shattered when he discovered the truth about his father's crimes. His life trajectory has changed in ways his 18-year-old self in 2008 couldn't have possibly imagined. However, discovering the truth cannot change the raid's trauma and its negative fallout that he and the 72 boys at Boy's Ranch experienced while in state custody. Ammon's attention to detail, his honesty in perspective, and the journey the raid set him on for the next 16 years will make you laugh, cry, and want to stand up and shout in happiness about his ability to overcome and set his own course in life.