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Child X

A Memoir of Slavery, Poverty, Celebrity, and Scientology

Published by BenBella Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

“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.

About The Author

Jamie Mustard is a conceptual artist, futurist, and writer, including his work on perception in the physical world. As an Iconist, his passion is to teach the science and art of obviousness, the anatomy of what causes any idea, art, or message to stand out and take hold. He loves to make beautiful things. He is the author of several books including The Iconist, A Kid’s Book About Resilience, and the graphic novel Hybred, among others. A graduate of the London School of Economics, Jamie’s work is an explanation of the “economics of attention,” based on the primal laws of human perception. A prolific speaker, he has guest lectured at the creative giant Wieden+Kennedy, Georgetown University, Parsons The New School, and Pratt Institute. Jamie’s Iconist work has spanned some of the world’s leading companies––Cisco, Nike, Adidas, Intel––leaders, change agents, artists, and the globe.

Growing up in severe poverty and illiteracy in inner city Los Angeles, Jamie overcame obstacles to eventually codify systems that can now help us all—Jamie’s passion is to create art and to reverse engineer things that can foster understanding and accessibility for all. Jamie is a coauthor of the The Invisible Machine and the winner of the Outstanding Works of Literature Award, a PenCraft Book Award for Literary Excellence, and the National Indie Excellence Award.

Product Details

  • Publisher: BenBella Books (July 29, 2025)
  • Length: 312 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781637747094

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