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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.