Jeremy and the Air Pirates

Terri L. Lyons is an elementary-school librarian, who also teaches in
the Distance Education Department and specializes in readers’ advisory
services at Mohawk College.

In this sequel to Jeremy and the Aunties, the dolls who come alive only
in front of Jeremy and his friend Rich once again case no end of
trouble. The stuffed dolls who seemed to be inhabited by
turn-of-the-century ghosts have reappeared on television—on every
single station. Only Jeremy and the Banks Brothers know who they are.

The Banks Brothers are bank robbers that Jeremy and the aunties managed
to trap in the first book. Now in jail, they are threatening to expose
the dolls for what they really are. The biggest mystery of all is how
the old ladies ended up on Jeremy’s couch in the first place. It has
something to do with the old tin-type photograph of them. And now,
Jeremy’s new VCR, bought with the reward money, has provided the
aunties with a possible way to perhaps get home. As frustrated as he
often is with the aunties and their shenanigans, Jeremy knows that he
has to rescue them from a permanent life as virtual reality ghosts (and
at the same time get his favorite TV shows back!).

Jeremy, a normal 11-year-old who watches too much TV, loves Jello
sandwiches, and is being raised by a struggling single mother, will be
familiar and appealing to most readers. The aunties, however, are
abrasive and unsympathetic. The many threads of the story—the Banks
Brothers, Jeremy’s mother, his chores, the not-so-subtle message of
the evils of television, etc.—do not always work well together.
However, the technical aspects—how the old ladies got transported
through time and then how they ended up on TV—will fascinate young
readers. Recommended for those who have read Jeremy and the Aunties.