I do not understand why *Little X* went out of print. I was assigned it in a university course and loved it. Where else can we read about women's experiences in African-American Islam and Christianity?

There are big differences between the various kinds of Islam in this country and we need to know them all. It is human to interpret a religion according to one's own community needs, and that is what the Nation was for in Tate's early days. It is well-written. Why copy edit out the dialogue of family truths and pains and growth. Where is Tate today? Everyone in my class enjoyed reading *Little X* - and when I went to get a copy for a gift, I couldn't believe they stopped printing them.

Ms. Tate writes about her experiences growing up in the Nation of Islam (NOI). She discusses her bizarre education at the Nation of Islam school and her difficult adjustment to the public school system after the NOI school was shut down. In a span of several years she listens as the adults around her complain that the leaders of the NOI are not following their own rules (and there are a LOT of rules). Then she discovers that her parents are also not following the rules; they have a stash of marijuana in their bedroom, which she steals and smokes several times per day. She describes her mother's movement from NOI, to orthodox islam, and finally to the Church of Scientology. Unfortunately the book is repetitive and there are many statements that you will read twice. I don't know where the editor was on this one. This book is written in an adolescent voice and actually reminds me a lot of another memoir: "Red Scarf Girl" by Ji-Li Jiang (about the Chinese Cultural Revolution). A good book for teens and pre-teens.