Photo ID

by Barbara A. Hawley

Yesterday her biggest fear was surviving a new school.
Today she’s just trying to stay alive.

Julie Mitchell anticipates a fun summer with friends before starting high school—until her missionary dad accepts a job halfway around the world. Leaving her Ohio life to begin school overseas, she travels with Lauren Powers, daughter of the American ambassador.

Minutes after the flight, three terrorists take Julie hostage. The clock ticks toward a terrifying fate, and Julie’s only hope is to pretend to be someone she’s not.

As the ruthless terrorists tighten their grip, she wonders: will her courage and wits be enough to survive?

Photo ID is a faith-based mystery adventure that will appeal to 10–14-year-olds, or to anyone looking for stories packed with action and intrigue.

Genres: Young Adult, Middle Grade

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 24, 2026

About the author

Barbara A. Hawley grew up in the Philippines, where her parents worked in medical missions. Her cross‑cultural childhood shaped her worldview and storytelling.
She is the author of "At the Threshold of Goodbye and Hello," which explores themes of belonging and grief in the Third Culture Kid experience. Her writing also appears in a magazine for adult Third Culture Kids and in "Childhood Regained," a collection of stories about child labor in Asia.
"Photo ID" is the first book of Barbara's new mystery adventure series featuring an American teen who solves mysteries in international settings. Get a free prequel here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jt480s76wg
Barbara blogs about multicultural literacy and shares helpful tips for parents and teachers at www.barbarahawley.com.
After living in five different states, she now makes her home in North Carolina near five of her grandchildren, who made it impossible to leave.

Reviews

[Jaycee Ann ✞ · Rating 4 out of 5]

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This review contains a few random statistics, my personal thoughts, and a content review! ♡
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• Book- Photo ID
• Author- B.A. Hawley
• Pages- Kindle, 141
• Genre(s)- YA thriller mystery, Christian fiction
• Published- 2026
• Recommended time to read - Winter or Autumn
⇢─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⇠
→ Setting - 4/5
→ Characters- 4/5
→ Writing - 4/5
→ Cover - 4/5
→ Vibes- 3/5
→ Plot- 4/5
→ Pacing- 3/5
→ Overall- ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
⇢─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⇠
Recommended to fans of-
✔︎ Christian mysteries/thrillers
✔︎ Themes of trusting God’s will
✔︎ Missionary kid representation
✔︎ Short easy reads

♫ Now Playing - Thy Will by Hillary Scott ♫
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╰┈➤ My thoughts (spoiler free)
♫ ”I’m so confused, I know I heard You loud and clear, so I followed through, somehow I ended up here.” ♫

I’m honored and delighted to say that I received an ARC copy of this wonderful book (my first ever ARC!) and I’m glad to report that it was totally worth the read!

Despite its short length, Photo ID contains a heavy and intriguing story of young MK (missionary kid) Julie, and her tale of both peril and growth in faith. The entire time I was drawn into the story, wondering exactly how Julie would find a way out of the situations she found herself in.

The themes of faith and trust in God, and following his will were perfectly engrained into the narrative, fulfilling the label of Christian fiction without sounding stereotypically preachy. Julie’s prayers for peace felt natural and powerful, without the cheesiness that sometimes tags along.

While this book was very clean, it dealt with some difficult and heavy topics, and so I think this book could be great for both middle grade and YA readers, depending on their sensitivity and maturity levels. Details on the content will be listed at the end of my review :)
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╰┈➤ Characters
♫ ”When I try to pray, all I have is hurt and these four words, Thy will be done.” ♫

Julie - A well written and 3D main character! I enjoyed reading the story from her point of view, and she really popped off the page when it came to plot progression, making her own conscious decisions rather than being dragged along with the plot.

Lauren - I hope we see more of her faith journey as this series progresses! She was lovely and her personality perfectly balanced out Julie’s more quiet demeanor.

Estelle - She really intrigued me! I also hope that she will be in the future books in this series, because she was honestly my favorite despite the fact she was only in a few scenes.

Aunt Fee - I loved her! She was both kind and funny, and I loved her farm.
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╰┈➤ Spoilers below!
♫ ”I know You see me, I know You hear me Lord, Your plans are for me, goodness You have in store.” ♫

I feel as if the pace could’ve been sped up just a bit, with the actual action starting around the 45% mark. Not that it was slow, just more delayed than I had expected. I also did fairly enjoy the more calm happenings before Julie’s kidnapping, with the friendship and family aspects. It was an important and enjoyable set up for the rest of the plot.

During the time in which Julie was kidnapped I was very curious about Ben. He seemed nicer than the others but he is also very clearly still a bad guy. The fact that we got some of his backstory makes me wonder if he’ll be featured in a later book in this series!
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╰┈➤ Content review

➸ Age Rating - 12+

➸ Language - None.

➸ Romance/Sexual - A couple mentions of guys being attractive/cute.

➸ Violence - The main character is kidnapped by Islamic extremists and kept in captivity for several days, she’s kicked and hit a couple times, and there are death threats but otherwise no harm comes to her.

➸ Religious/Spiritual - Many instances of prayer, and a lot of mentions of missionaries, God, church, etc. While in captivity the main character overhears her captors saying Islamic prayers.

➸ Magic - None.

➸ LGBTQ - None.

➸ Alcohol/Drugs - The main character is sedated, a man constantly smokes cigarettes.

➸ Other Notes - The main character’s mother died previous to the events in the book, a character mentions that her parents are getting divorced so her dad can go live with another woman, many mentions of terrorists.

[Noëlle ♡ (daughter of the king) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating - 4.5 stars
Age Rating - 9+ (no language, no sexual content, mild to moderate violence)
Genre - Christian Fiction Contemporary Mystery

This was so fun!!! I really enjoyed this! Even though it was fairly short, it didn't really feel like it wasn't completely fleshed out, and was still a solid story! I really like the main character, Julie, her personality was super fun, and I liked reading about her.

The Christian content was so good! I loved seeing Julie grow in her faith and trust in the Lord, and I liked that we got to see some of Julie's Dad and Lauren's character development, even though we didn't read from their perspective.

I liked how Julie was a missionary kid because a lot of people (including me) don't know a whole lot about that, so that was cool!

I was really hoping we'd get to see Julie and Lauren going to school, but alas, that was not so 😔 I'm thinking we probably will with book two however! So I'm excited for that!

This was my first ever ARC and I enjoyed it a lot! I'm so glad I was able to read and review this :)


Content ~

Language: none
Sexual content: basically none, one part where a character asks if the men " hurt hurt" her and the character knowing "exactly what she meant" but nothing actually happens nor was plainly stated.
Violence: *minor spoilers* the MC is kidnapped, and kicked, slapped, beaten, has bruises to show for it, is held at gunpoint several times (is not shot), and is drugged.

[Ruth Stevenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an advanced reader of Photo ID, the first installment in the Julie Mitchell Series, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the author, Barbara Hawley. Her dedication and perseverance over many years, are evident in this faith-based, wholesome, and intriguing multicultural story created especially for young readers, 10-14 years old.
Barbara Hawley beautifully weaves her experiences growing up as an American in the Philippines into an action-packed and immersive mystery. The setting feels authentic and vibrant, adding depth and richness to the story.
What I appreciate most is the powerful message of faith throughout. Julie’s trust in God guides her with hope and courage, in the most frightening moments of her life. It’s inspiring to see a young protagonist, Julie, whose faith is portrayed as a source of strength, resilience, and wisdom.
I’m truly looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Smart, Courageous Heroine Anchored by Faith

If you enjoy young adult mysteries featuring intelligent, quick-witted, and courageous heroines, this novel delivers. Julie Mitchel is en route to boarding school in Manila, Philippines, when she is kidnapped at the airport by terrorists. What follows is a tense, fast-paced story of courage and ingenuity. Julie’s sharp thinking leads her to devise a clever strategy that allows detectives to trace her movements and ultimately orchestrate her rescue. Throughout the ordeal, her unwavering faith in God’s presence and protection steadies her and gives her hope.

Well written and engaging, this is a faith-filled adventure with a strong female lead readers will admire and root for until the very last page.

[Julie Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for MG, YA, and adult readers. It is well written, has good characters, and a really interesting story line. Once I started reading, I had to read until the very satisfying end.