Things "heat up" for the third Coin Slot Chronicles book. Arcade starts middle school. His best friend needs to move to Florida. He also gets a better understanding of how the magic token works. They travel to various events to gain more knowledge and understanding. However, the primary goal is personal growth. He struggles through school challenges as well as losing his dog. He learns to understand the past experiences of others to have more empathy with them and thus grow himself.
In the second book, the kids travel a lot. They make a "real" trip to their previous home in Virginia. They also make "golden coin" trips to Holland, San Francisco and other places. They also see their parents when they were young.
In school, the class is working on a "future career" project. He is lucky to be on a team with people he gets along with. However, two of the class bullies want him to do their projects for them. With his friends, the token often lights up, leading them to have "experiences" in their future careers. Arcade eventually realizes that he likes helping others as a guidance counselor. Rather than do the bullies' projects, he helps inspire them to use their own talents and passion. A bible verse gets mentioned at the end.
