“Hey, kid. Kid.” A voice in the darkness of the slum dorm. I awoke to my stale, bare mattress. It was midnight. The arm of a male nanny reached into the closet where my bed was, roughly jostling me. “You have to get up. They’re coming.”

A notorious movement cloaked in secrecy. A prosperous Black family that rose from the ashes of American slavery. A forgotten boy. And a daring escape.

Jamie Mustard was born into one of the most influential fringe movements in the 1970s: Scientology. Raised on a mythology of spaceships and made to believe that it was his life’s purpose to help save the world, he was determined to survive—not only neglect but also the physical and psychological gauntlets of extreme poverty and illiteracy.

A dark, existential journey, Child X takes readers through Jamie’s childhood and adolescence in “the movement,” his escape, and his rise into self-possession. This book tells the unfathomable story of a lost generation of children, who endured mass psychological indoctrination and captivity.

With wit and vulnerability, Jamie sheds light on one of the untold, but not uncommon, accounts of a powerful Black family that rose to prominence and wealth, and how the counterculture of the 1960s and ‘70s caused that rise to crumble. This deeply personal true story gives a child’s-eye view of one of the most notorious American religious movements in history. It powerfully places Black American history into the captivating context of world history and events.

A universal story of resilience in the face of overwhelming odds, Child X celebrates yet transcends race—and is ultimately an uplifting story of rising out of adversity and building a life full of meaning and connection. With this book, Jamie works to restore his family’s legacy and provide a salient saga of the road to humanity.