Synopses & Reviews
Ever since his dad got rich from an invention and his family moved to a wealthy neighborhood on Long Island, Tony Miglione's life has been tumed upside down. For starters, there's his new friend Joel, who shoplifts. Then there's Joel's sixteen-year-old sister, Lisa, who gets undressed every night without pulling down her shades. And there's Grandma, who won't come down from her bedroom. On top of all his other worries, Tony has questions about growing up...
Why couldn't things have stayed the same?
Review
"[E]ye opening, funny, and poignant all at the same time." School Library Journal
Synopsis
Unable to accept or explain his family's newly acquired wealth, his growing interest in sex, and a friend's shoplifting habit, a thirteen-year-old finds the pains in his stomach getting worse and worse.
Synopsis
Tony Miglione is 13 when his family gets rich from an invention his father has created and subsequently moves from their working class New Jersey neighborhood to a wealthy Long Island enclave. As Tony struggles to adjust to life in the new neighborhood, he notices how various members of his family are affected by the sudden change in their financial status and he's not always impressed by what he sees. Tony is also drawn into the lives of his new neighbors: Joel, a boy his age who despite his family's wealth spends his days shoplifting and making trouble, and Lisa, Joel's 16-year-old sister, on whom Tony develops a crush.
Written by Judy Blume in order to present the experiences of a boy going through puberty, Then Again, Maybe I Won't is often seen as the "male version" of her classic Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. Like that book, Then Again also addresses frankly the issue of adolescent sexual curiosity and the physical changes of puberty.
About the Author
Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, New Jersey, making up stories inside her head. Judy received a B.S. in education from NYU in 1961, which named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1996, the same year the ALA honored her with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. She has won more than ninety awards, none more important than those coming directly from her youngest readers. Judy lives on islands up and down the East Coast with her husband George Cooper, who writes nonfiction. They have three grown children and one incredible grandchild who is a big fan of audiobooks.
Author Q&A
Judy Blume talks about writing
Then Again Maybe I Won’t
I had just finished writing Are You There God? It's Me Margaret. when I decided it would be interesting, and maybe even fun, to write a book from a boy's point of view. So for six months I became (in my mind, anyway) twelve year old Tony Miglione. I was fascinated by Tony's hardworking family. I respected them. And I was curious about what might happen to this close-knit family, who had always struggled to make ends meet, if suddenly they struck it rich.
The love of money might be the root of all evil, as the bible says, or it might not be, but greed and entitlement were what most interested me when I started telling this story. I’m just as interested in these topics today. There are still many kids like Tony, kids who are trying to figure out where they belong in the world. I think there always will be. I gave Tony the stomach pains I had when I was young. I had a lot of anxieties, too. But his puberty–well, I talked to a number of guys and then I just let my imagination do the rest.
This was a complicated book to write. It went through more than six drafts. I dedicated it to my editor, Dick Jackson, to thank him for his support and his patience.