ARCADE AND THE FIERY METAL TESTER

In Volume 3 of the Coin Slot Chronicles, 11-year-old Arcade Livingston and older sister Zoe must harness their patience and compassion.

Retired NFL running back Jennings, writing with veteran children’s writer Osborne, developed the Arcade Livingston series after finding success with his book for adults, The If in Life (written with Michael Strahan, 2018). As the book opens, the Livingston parents set goals with their children: to step into the positive character traits of patience and compassion, in accordance with their Christian faith (references to which are lightly sprinkled throughout the text). These goals inform the adventures that follow. The novels can stand alone but are deepened when read together, so maybe that’s the best way for readers to understand the full story behind this mysterious Triple T Token and its time-traveling powers. Readers learn that it can take Arcade and Zoe to times and places they’ve never been with strange people surrounding them, yet this story isn’t always about what’s happening way out there. There’s the serious inside things too. There’s Arcade’s best friend, Doug, who is being moved to Florida when he wants nothing more than to be close to his ailing grandmother. Is there something that this mysterious Triple T Token can do about that? Does trying to control the power of the token only create further chaos?

Dotted with significant life lessons for young readers, who might prefer to start with Volume 1