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Child X

A Memoir of Slavery, Poverty, Celebrity, and Scientology

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“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 mythos 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 unsurvivable neglect but also the impossible physical and psychological gauntlet of extreme poverty and illiteracy. Child X is a dark existential journey into a deepest hole of human existence and the road back.

The unbelievable story of a lost generation of children, Child X takes readers through Jamie’s childhood and adolescence in “the movement,” his daring escape, and his rise into self-possession. With wit and vulnerability, Jamie sheds light on one of the untold, but not uncommon, accounts of a powerful Black family that rose from the ashes of slavery 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. Despite his family’s success, Jamie would be born a slave and then reborn an artist. Through extraordinary encounters with celebrity, icons and historical figures, it also powerfully places Black American history in the larger context of world events.

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

©2025 by Jamie Mustard. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Pauvreté et sans-abri Religion et spiritualité occulte Sciences sociales Drôle Histoires réconfortantes

Ce que les critiques en disent

“As someone who’s deeply studied psychological indoctrination, Child X is a staggering triumph over the unimaginable. A profoundly moving and important book, at once haunting and beautiful.”—Holt McCallany, lead actor, David Fincher’s Mindhunter (Netflix)

“Child X is a vivid, harrowing memoir of a childhood shadowed by hardship and illiteracy in a dark movement, ultimately of personal redemption and triumphant artistic self-expression. Its message is essential.”—Gabor Maté, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Myth of Normal

“A moving story about overcoming the impossible.”—Hilary Bevan Jones, film and television producer and first female chairman of BAFTA
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I could not put this book down. Child X by Jamie Mustard is a powerful, painful, and profoundly human story. Mustard narrates an unimaginable and inhumane upbringing with such skill and artistry that the pages come alive. The book is a visual, emotional, and deeply intellectual journey spanning generations of history, identity, race, power, and belonging.

This raw, thought-provoking memoir is both heartbreaking and beautiful—a story of bravery and reclamation that shines the light of truth into the dark shadows of belief. Child X tears away the deceptive masks worn by so-called “masters” of organizational structures, exposing corruption and deep harm.

This book belongs in every school. It is a masterpiece of rarely told truth and a beacon of hope, miraculously underscoring the higher qualities of empathy, love, humanity, art, beauty, and the power of trusting oneself.

Flawless.

Unflinching Truth, Powerful Literature

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To hear a victim tell their story, in spite of it all, is spine-chilling. Jamie's narration is extremely emotional; chocking back his tears when recalling the few kindnesses shown to him growing up, and adopting a distinct detached tone when recounting situations no person should go through, let alone a child. I had to rewind and relisten to passages, being overwhelmed by his trembling voice, wondering how hard it must have been to read through and record.
Born into the surreal scientology Slave Cult, this memoir of indoctrination is a deeply disturbing account that sounds like science-fiction or a movie. Yet scientolody is science-fiction, and Hollywood and HNWIs are complicit in the enslavement of children in 'baby factories', who are then trafficked around the US as property, and manipulated beyond sanity with military grade torture tactics.
Most valuable in this text, are the personal confessions of the author's inner thoughts as he explains his journey from complete faith and immersion in the ideology he was born into, all the way through to his gradual deprogramming and the intense struggle faced in the aftermath of being labelled, by the cult's members, by society and by his own self-doubt. Additionally, his struggle to reclaim his identity and authentic family history, gives immense hope to all survivors and victims of abuse.
This story would make a great movie, demonstrating how anyone can rationalize suffering if they think it has meaning. A difficult yet fascinating life-story, filled with artistic and historic anecdotes.

A Inspirational Life of Perseverance

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I got this book based on hearing Jamie on a podcast promoting it. I preferred his interview over the book. His writing has many descriptions and details. It was difficult to remember what he was originally talking about. The performance felt like I was being yelled at. It was loud with an unvarying tone and pace. I tried to stop listening but came back and ended up finishing it. The last couple of chapters were the most interesting.

It was ok, but way too many descriptions and not enough story

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