[JVD]

Hi! I just found this forum.

I was born in 1981 and read No Coins Please when I was however old I was. I remember it being amazing.

I've been introducing my 9yr old to Bruno, Boots, Rudy from I Want To Go Home. But I can't find an affordable copy of No Coins Please. 

Can you re-release it so I can share it with my son as well?

We've branched out from your 80s books and he's read many of your more recent books as well.

Thanks for all the books and the late nights he's spent reading!

 

JVD Vancouver 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, JVD,

Thanks for posting and also for being a fan and raising another one!

I'm sorry about NO COINS, PLEASE. It's probably out of print. I'd send you a copy, but I haven't got one to spare. I'm not in charge of releases and/or re-releases, so I guess we're out of luck. Sorry about that.

One outside chance. (Are you listening, Raymond?) Raymond knows everything there is to know about my books, and he might have an idea. So watch this space for a few days, OK? Help MAY be on the way. Good luck!

                                                                                                                    -----Gordon Korman-----

[Raymond Jardine]

Hello, JVD. (And thanks, GRK!)

I'm afraid I'm more able to confirm the problem than to offer a solution. NO COINS, PLEASE is not rare in the used books market—they are readily available for purchase—but as I'm sure you've seen, it's unusual to find a copy under $15, and often the lowest prices available are closer to $30. The best price I can find today is $17 (including U.S. shipping costs) for a beat-up copy. For one in better condition, it takes another few bucks.

If you're really keen to get a bargain, just keep watching eBay and other online used book offerings, as every once in a while you'll get lucky and find one at a low price (before someone else snags it!). A great tool to locate available copies is Bookfinder (<-- click the site name, if I linked it correctly it'll bring you to NO COINS, PLEASE sorted by price).

If you're in Canada, you might try secondhand bookstores and score a really good deal, though I suspect they don't stay on the shelves long even where they were more common when new.

My advice, for what it's worth: Invest $20-ish in a book your son will love (and you will love to revisit). Then make sure to add THE TWINKIE SQUAD and BUGS POTTER and SCHOOLED and UNPLUGGED to your 9-year-old's nightstand book pile, as they all can be had without the big price tag.

[JVD]

Thanks both for taking the time (and to be honest I was a bit star struck there for a second too!)

I like to think I saw those $30 copies before, but perhaps I was scared away by the $499 hard cover Amazon copy! 

Thanks also for the book finder idea.

My son's favourites so far have been, in order:

Wizzle

Other MacDonald Hall ones 

I Want To Go Home

Unplugged

Island series

The Fort

Thanks again for the books! 

 

 

[Asher]

Is there a reason why it is not being re-released? Is it a safety issue?

Safety? NO COINS, PLEASE? It's about a kid who has a knack for making money. It's fun and funny, that's all.  It's just that it was written in about 1983, and that was 40 years ago! No publisher can keep everything in print. But there's no safety issue.                                                                                                                                                                          --GK--

[Asher]

I thought it might inspire kids to run away... or gamble!

It would never inspire kids to run away. Artie is on a summer van trip; he's not on the lam. Gamble? Maybe. But I don't know if there are many kids like Artie Geller, who happens to be the greatest maker of money. How many people do you know of who could invent something like Attack Jelly?                                                     ---GK---

[Darren]

I read No Coins, Please when it came out, and I was the same age as Artie was in the story. I never thought about slipping away from groups I was with or gambling. The only thing it inspired me to do was to try and think more creatively. Artie's schemes were all brilliant!

[Jessica]

I've been in the same boat trying to find an affordable copy of this!  Thank you for the link.  I managed to get a copy for under $30.  I've managed to find of a lot of my childhood books for under $5 a piece.  I think Artie must have priced these used copies.

Hi, Jessica,

Under $30! Ouch! I'm hoping there will be a reissue of some of the older stuff, but it's not up to me. Thanks for your loyalty to Artie and Ambulance Group!                                                                -----Gordon Korman-----

[Dorchester Melon]

@JVD - Quite a bit of after your original post, but let me know if you're still in Vancouver and hoping to track down a copy of 'No Coins, Please' for your son. I was a bit of a book hoarder in my youth and have a spare copy. Could probably drop something off along the Broadway corridor. If the other posts are correct and this might inspire a next generation of Artie copy-cats, it seems like my duty to share the joys of attack jelly.

Will keep an eye on this page for the next while.

[Josh]

@ Dorchester Melon

I’m looking for a copy of No Coins, Please for my daughter. We’re in Victoria but will be in Vancouver this Saturday (Oct 19th) and would be thrilled to pick-up a copy. 

Hey, Josh & Dorchester Melon - hope you guys can get together on this!                         ---GK---

[Dorchester Melon]

@Josh

Hope we can figure out a meet while you're in town. What part of Van are you visiting? Maybe something like Broadway/City Hall skytrain station in the afternoon would work for a quick hand-off?

Not quite sure the best way to communicate but since GK is cheering us on, sure we can figure it out.

[Dorchester Melon]

Hi @Josh, let me know if you're in town and want to sort a hand-off for today. Maybe something in the afternoon/one of the central-ish sky trains?