Can I See Your I.D.?: True Stories of False Identities

by Chris Barton, Paul Hoppe (Illustrator)

True crime, desperation, fraud, and From the impoverished young woman who enchanted nineteenth-century British society as a faux Asian princess, to the sixteen-year-old boy who "stole" a subway train in 1993, to the lonely but clever Frank Abagnale of Catch Me if You Can fame, these ten vignettes offer riveting insight into mind-blowing masquerades. Graphic panels draw you into the exploits of these pretenders, and meticulously researched details keep you on the edge of your seat. Each scene is presented in the second person, a unique point of view that literally places you inside the faker's mind. With motivations that include survival, delusion, and plain, old-fashioned greed, the psychology of deception has never been so fascinating or so close at hand.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Middle Grade, Teen, Short Stories, Childrens, Crime

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 20, 2011

About the author

I'm the author of picture books including WE MATCH! (2025), bestseller SHARK VS. TRAIN, Sibert Honor-winning THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS, and WHOOSH! LONNIE JOHNSON'S SUPER-SOAKING STREAM OF INVENTIONS, which has been celebrated on 21 state reading lists.

Other well-known titles of mine include 88 INSTRUMENTS, HOW TO MAKE A BOOK (ABOUT MY DOG), FIRE TRUCK VS. DRAGON, DAZZLE SHIPS, THE AMAZING AGE OF JOHN ROY LYNCH, and WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A VOICE LIKE THAT?

My newest books include GLITTER EVERYWHERE! WHERE IT CAME FROM, WHERE IT'S FOUND & WHERE IT'S GOING (one of National Public Radio's "Books We Love" for 2023) and MOVING FORWARD: FROM SPACE-AGE RIDES TO CIVIL RIGHTS SIT-INS WITH AIRMAN ALTON YATES (a School Library Journal Best Book of 2022).

I visit schools by the score and also love speaking to professional gatherings of librarians, educators, and fellow writers.

I'm married to middle-grade/YA novelist Jennifer Ziegler (WORSER, HOW NOT TO BE POPULAR). Jennifer and I have four adult children and one dog, and we co-host the children’s literature video series “This One’s Dedicated to…” in which we talk with other authors and illustrators about the dedications they’ve written for their books.

Jennifer and I live in Austin, where I serve as vice president of the Texas Institute of Letters, a 501(c)(3) non-profit honor society founded in 1936 to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement.

For more information about me, please visit www.chrisbarton.info or linktr.ee/bartography.

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting stories, but I could have done without the second person narration.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this. As a kid I loved to read books about "true stories of dramatic escapes", stuff like that. But there are several things about this book that feel off. The second-person "you are there" narration seemed clever and intriguing at first, but by the third or so story, it was wearying. It's one thing to imagine yourself as a teenager running a subway train on a lark, or pretending to be a boy so you can fight for the Union Army; it's something else altogether when you're asked to imagine yourself as a narcissist and criminal pretending to be a doctor and endangering lives. Several of the people here are petty criminals, and they're presented in basically the same tone as the heroes. Not all of the stories were particularly compelling (or written compellingly?). The slice of Frank Abagnale's life that was chosen here was a pretty dull one, considering the slices that could have been chosen--maybe because the author wanted to choose something from his youth, which I can understand, but it still didn't really work for me.

Certainly the most compelling (and probably most detailed) story was that of the Jewish teenager pretending to be a Nazi soldier and then a member of the Hitler Youth. (Apparently this is a famous story; I haven't read EUROPA, EUROPA.) But one scene there left a bad taste in my mouth that stuck around for the rest of the book. What seems like an attempted rape of the protagonist is referred to, but the older soldier is referred to only as a homosexual, not an attempted rapist; there's no hint of what he did as being wrong or being at all separate from homosexuality. Perhaps this is how the protagonist spoke of the incident and the older man later. And I get that this is a tricky thing to work into the text. But it read to me (I am certain the author didn't intend this) as a conflation of homosexuality with rape, and what some might even read as pedophilia. It is a small incident and I am sensitive to these things, but I'm curious about how it would read to a kid. (I suspect they might not even understand what's happening, because it's sketched so vaguely. I doubt I would have understood about circumcision, which is the plot point here and mentioned a couple of other places in this chapter, at the age when I would have read this book.)

[Clued-in With A Book (Elvina Ulrich) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was exactly the kind of true crime book I needed this week! It was light, entertaining and easy to read. I also loved the illustrations in the beginning of each chapter.

There are ten crime stories about false identities or fraud in this book. I am familiar with some of the cases here but there were two cases that stood out for me. The case of sixteen year-old Keron Thomas who pretended to be NYC Subway Motorman and operated an A train for over three hours! And Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. who pretended to be a navy surgeon which was really bold and scary! Of course any true crime book about false identities would be incomplete without the story of Frank Abagnale Jr. where his story was adapted into the movie Catch Me If You Can. But if you read the book The Greatest Hoax On Earth: Catching Truth, While We Can, you may change your mind about Frank's story.

While I liked the engaging writing, I did find it a bit odd that these stories were narrated in second-person, e.g: "You met …", "You paid close attention ….". I guess I am just not used to reading books written this way.

Overall, this was a fun, interesting and quick true crime book to read in one sitting!

[Shoval G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I read and liked very much was Can I See Your I.D.?
The book is about people that created a false identity, and pretending to be someone else,
there were 10 different stories and out of them only two were caught and spend time in prison.
The thing I liked most about this story is how the author finishes the chapter with a question,
or with an unfinished story, and retrieves it by making a page about what happened next to the character.

[Elsa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mmmm-no. I felt like I was attending a class with a condescending teacher!

[Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I got this book, I wanted to read more. These true stories are also little mysteries. What people could get away with is amazing. In a couple of stories, the pretending was also an act of heroism.

Chris Barton has an expressive way using feelings to show what the characters are thinking. Barton also creates urgency that makes you want to keep reading

Each story is introduced with a short comic illustrating the opening scene. Paul Hoppe is very good at connecting the illustrations with Barton’s words. The illustrated page would make even reluctant readers want to read all the way through.

These stories don’t just end with cliffhangers. The final line makes you wonder what’s going to happen next. Lucky for us, the story goes on a little bit further in an epilogue to each one. I appreciate the epilogues because they give you a little more history and show the effects of the pretending.

I’m so glad that my mom brought this home for me. When I saw the book, it looked like it was going to be filled with mysteries. It turned out to be even better than that. The illustrations draw you in and the writing whisks you through a dramatic event. Any kid who likes history but who is bored with whole centuries of the same thing, will love the fakers and the tales that come with them in "Can I See Your ID?"

[Blythe Penland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was enlightening. I never realized just how much we humans will believe if it's said the right way, or if it boosts our own egos. I truly appreciate the bibliography, as it seems that the author went through many other resources to provide all the knowledge in this book. My favorite story was of Ellen Craft and William Craft. I was captivated by how a mixed woman in the mid 1800s was able to convince so many that she was a white, slave-holding man. I admired her courage, as well as her husband's just to be free. I was also overjoyed to learn that they did eventually reach freedom, and after the Civil War, move to Georgia to teach former slaves to read. I was surprised that the book was written in the second-person, but I think it aided in the point of becoming someone else. I recommend this book to those looking for a quick, fun, and interesting read.

[Evan Soper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about people who have pretended to be somebody they aren’t in order to do some crazy things. I really like the second person perspective of this book. It’s something you don’t really see very often at all. It really puts you into the person's mind and it’s really interesting. I also like how they are true stories. It did kind of make me want to do something like this myself though. All in all, I would say it's 4.5/10.

[Alabama Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting collection of short stories about people that assumed alternative identities. Although some of the stories took place a long time ago, they still are able to hold your interest. As technology progresses and society pushes to prevent hackers from stealing our individual personas it will continue to both be easier and harder at the same time to change indentities.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy read. I randomly chose it off the shelf at the library. I liked it, but like others have stated, the 2nd person style was off-putting and kind of pulled you out of the story. Second person really should be reserved for choose your own adventures and RPGs. Beyond that, each story was interesting, and I did like the follow-up of what happened next.

[Katrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is rare that I don't finish a book, but I had to put this one down.
While I do enjoy the illustrations, the concept lacked depth. It is just a bunch of stories spat into some pages. Sad to say, I was a bit disappointed.

[Michael Leung · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is A very good book and most people will like it a lot but this personally was not my taste. This book is interesting because it is about a creating a id and pretending to be someone your not. Very good book and I recommend.

[Vanessa Beerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're into history and wars, then this is the book for you. I'm not a lover of nonfiction in general, but the idea of so many identities being stolen intrigued me. Not as memorable as I thought it would be, but they can't all be 5 star ratings!

[Megan Eliason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Variety of stories. Narrative was challenging at times, but worked for this read. Great topic introduction for chapter readers. Felt somewhat deceived by the title as some of the stories predated an actual I.D. Maybe it was foreshadowing for the delivery of deceit?

[Hours · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you only had the time to read one chapter of this book then Solomon Perel's would be my suggestion.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a good enough mix of new and familiar. Like most of these reviews mention, the second person is really dumb.

[R_o_b_e_r_t · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the book, it had maybe 2 out of 10 stories that I enjoyed a small amount, they were educational but all mostly boring.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read, but some of these stories were great to learn about. Glad I picked up this book.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stories, but would have liked more follow-up on many of them.

[Patricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

The second person narration is TERRIBLE. It's so incredibly distracting, which is too bad because some of the stories could have been interesting.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how the stories were in second person. It made the already exciting and crazy stories even more engaging.

[Ravyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a bit informative, but had zero depth. I’m okay with second person sometimes, but this was too much. There *has* to be a better book on similar topics.

[Ms. P · Rating 4 out of 5]

These 10 true stories of people who put on false identities were fun to read, and quick to finish.

[Alyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the concept but not the voice--but I'm not the intended audience. See https://www.eatreadandbemommy.com/202... for details!

[Lupe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I already knew some of these stories but several were new to me. I think teens would really enjoy these stories.

[Rachel Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book brings up some really interesting stories that may or may not be familiar to students. Some of them tie into movies (Princess Caraboo, Catch Me If You Can). It brings up an interesting point - are there any victimless crimes? This would be a great conversation starter or even a good read-aloud for older (middle/high) students.

[Chandrahas C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can I See your ID
By Chris Barton
118 pages
Informative

Can I See You ID is a great book about people who have deceived others by taking on fake identities. Some people in this book have taken on false identities for wealth. Frank W. Abagnale Jr. is a good example of this. He had left home when he was 16 with nothing but a driver's license and a checkbook. By changing his driver's license and tricking banks into giving him money, Frank had made millions by the time he was caught. Others changed for challenge. Keron Thomas was obsessed with trains. He wasn't a kid either. He was 16 and was dreaming to drive a train one day. Then he gets a thought, "Why not live the dream right now?" He then pretended to be Sabio, a subway operator, so he could drive a subway. It all went well, until he broke the speed limit and got caught. Some people have even changed their lives for attention. Mary Baker had showed up at a town and pretended to be a princess, just for a little while for fun. But the attention got to her. She kept up the charade for even longer. She kept it up for as long as she could, until someone exposed her as a fraud soon after. Many other people in this book have changed their identities for many other reasons. But almost all of them got caught. This book was very interesting and seemed like a movie somebody would make up. But all of these stories are real, which just made it even more interesting.

I liked this book for a couple of reasons. One reason is because the stories weren't all alike. The 10 stories focused on different things each time. It didn't only focus on people who changed their identity for wealth, but also for fame, freedom, thrill, challenge and also for a couple other reasons. This made the stories fun to read and interesting. Another reason I liked this book is because it showed what happened to the people after they've been caught. This showed how some identity switches turned out okay and others got them in jail. This also explained the consequences of their false identities and made the book better. A third reason I liked this book is because I just thought that this book was interesting. I haven't read any books that were like this one and it was just plain fun to read. This book was written in a way that actually made nonfiction fun to read. This book could have been longer, but I still thought that it was a great book.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I See Your I.D? is a non-fiction book by Chris Barton. A non-fiction book is a book that has true facts about a specific event or topic. An example of a non-fiction book could be a biography or a book that includes facts of something that the author thinks people should know about for example, how the earth evolved. Can I See Your I.D? includes many different kinds of stories of people faking their identities from faking your name and age to pretending you’re a slave owner to even pretending to be a German when you’re really a Jew in the Holocaust. There are ten people in the book that Chris Barton writes about and all of them have very different stories. The one thing they all have in common is that they fake their identities. Sometimes they get caught and sometimes they keep switching identities without anyone finding out. This book had different chapters for each person that the author writes about. In the beginning of the book there is a table of contents that says the title of the chapter which is usually the name, or the fake name of the person that the chapter is talking about. Also, in the beginning of every chapter there was a small comic without words of what the chapter was about. I really enjoyed reading Can I See Your I.D? because the author’s writing style was easy to read and made it fun to read as well. I especially liked the small comic at the beginning of the chapters because it was a fun introduction to the chapter that was gripping and made me want to read more. Also the language and word choices weren’t hard to understand which was helpful for me when I was reading the book. If anyone read this book, they would really be able to understand what it’s like to be someone who fakes their identities. Anyone who likes really intense and mysterious books would like this book because the author writes about the people in this book really drastically and makes you feel really anxious to find out if their real identities would be revealed. I was surprised at how interesting this book was and how easy it was to follow. I was expecting it to be boring and long but it was the opposite of that. I would give this book five stars because I liked learning about something I never knew about.

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A confection for readers

This is a collection of ten stories about people pretending to be somebody or something they’re not. Keron Thomas, for example, had such a desire to be a subway motorman that he pretended to be one and actually finagled his way into driving the train in New York City. Wow. Only problem: you’ve never done this before and…well, mistakes will happen.

Then there’s high school dropout Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. who passes himself off as a navy surgeon. It gets a little sticky when he has to actually tend the injured although he manages to pull the captain’s aching tooth. There’s a Yankee woman pretending to be a man as a soldier during the American Civil War. This ends badly. There’s a white man with dyed skin pretending to be black. (John Howard Griffin who wrote a famous book about it, “Black Like Me.”) The most edgy tale perhaps is that of Solomon Perel, circumcised Polish Jew during World War II who ends up in the Hitler youth trying to stay alive.

The stories are all told in the second person (“you” did this, “you” did that) giving the narratives a close-up feel. Short stories have been written in the second person and even some novels. It can seem artificial but for some reason it was natural here probably because Barton’s prose is so easy to read. In fact the book reads like something written for tweeners.

There are some excellent gray scale drawings by Paul Hoppe and a Bibliography detailing where Barton got the information for the stories including, I was amused to notice, a 1993 news story for The Washington Post written by Malcolm Gladwell . author of “The Tipping Point,” “Outliers” and other bestselling books.

I call books like this “confections” since the stories are like bonbons: you can’t read just one.

--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Disclaimer: This review is being written as part of an academic assignment)

Can I see Your I.D.?: True Stories of False Identities by Chris Barton is a fascinating anthology of mostly-true stories of famous cases of stolen, mistaken, or hidden identities. Each story is told through a unique second-person narrative style which makes the reader the culprit of each of these actions. Some of the stories are light-hearted and fun, such as the story of a young man who pretended to be a train engineer or a man who pretended to be a pilot. Others are much more dark, such as a young Jewish man who pretended to be in the Hitler Youth to escape execution, or a young woman in the Civil War who died a quiet, sad death.

This second-person storytelling, as mentioned before, was at first quite jarring. It seemed to create a sort of cognitive disconnect between the historical events and the story as being told. However, as I read more it began to grow on me, and when I considered this book being placed in a 5-8th grade class, I began to understand it more. I believe this book would be excellent for younger readers, it has an ability to fully engage them and expand their minds by giving them the opportunity to pretend it is they themselves in these bizarre and impossible situations. An adult reading these stories may feel confused, but I feel a young student reading these would be entranced.

A smart collection of uniquely written anthologies - 5 Stars.