Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume

First published: 1971

Subjects: Coming-of-age, emotions, and family

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Domestic realism and psychological realism

Time of work: The early 1970’s

Recommended Ages: 10-15

Locale: Rosemont, Long Island, New York

Principal Characters:

• Tony Miglione, a thirteen-year-old boy experiencing puberty and dramatic changes in his family’s situation
• Ralph Miglione, Tony’s older, married brother
• Angie Miglione, Ralph’s wife
• Vic Miglione, Tony’s father, whose tinkering results in new wealth and status for his family
• Grandma, Tony’s grandmother, who has lost her larynx to cancer and can no longer speak
• Mrs. Miglione, Tony’s mother
• Joel Hoober, Tony’s next-door neighbor, his best friend in Rosemont
• Lisa Hoober, Joel’s attractive sixteen-year-old sister

Form and Content

Then Again, Maybe I Won’t is a short, fast-paced account of thirteen-year-old Tony’s efforts to cope with the onset of puberty and the tremendous upheavals in his world occasioned by his family’s sudden affluence. The account of Tony’s ambivalent feelings about both his changing body and his altered circumstances provides an insightful examination of the daily disruptions and contradictions inherent in adolescent life.

As the novel opens, life is good for its narrator, Tony Miglione, whose days in Jersey City are routine and predictable. Somewhat apprehensive about starting junior high and annoyed by the cranky customers on his paper route, he nevertheless believes that he can handle whatever life has to offer. His parents both work hard to support their family, which also includes Tony’s brother, Ralph, a seventh-grade teacher; Ralphs’ wife, Angie, who attends teacher’s college; and Tony’s grandmother, who lost her larynx to cancer and cannot speak. Tony idolizes Ralph, known as the “Wizard of Seventh Grade Social Studies” at the local junior high, and he admires both his brother and sister-in-law for their dedication to education. He has a loving relationship with his grandmother, who cooks for the family, and respects his father for his knowledge of electronics, even though he does not share this interest.

Angie’s unexpected pregnancy, however, precipitates a series of changes in the Miglione household. Fearful of being unable to provide for the growing family, Tony’s father works hard to complete the project with which he has heretofore spent only his spare time tinkering in their basement. His completion of a new type of electrical cartridge earns for him the offer of a partnership in a large corporation, accompanied by a dramatic change in income and status. The family that was barely making ends meet in Jersey City launches a new life in the affluent Long Island suburb of Rosemont, and Tony immediately faces more changes than he had anticipated.

Tony’s mother hires a housekeeper, who soon kicks his grandmother out of the kitchen and takes over the cooking, causing the old woman to take to her room, refusing even to attend Mass. Ralph gives up teaching to join his father in the electronics business, in which he had previously evinced no interest, and Tony’s mother worries incessantly about being accepted by their new neighbors. Tony makes friends with the boy next door, Joel Hoober, whose occasional bouts of shoplifting make Tony uncomfortable. As if these major alterations were not enough, Tony must also deal with the changes taking place in his body. He spies on Joel’s sixteen-year-old sister when she undresses at night, worries about wet dreams, and endures his father’s bumbling attempts to talk to him about sex.

Tony’s mounting concern over his own, and everyone else’s, problems results in his hospitalization, as ever-increasing stomach pains finally become too serious to ignore. As his diagnosis reveals no physical problem, he begins to see a therapist, to whom he divulges the concerns that he has been internalizing for so long. Having an unbiased, understanding adult in whom to confide helps Tony gain some perspective, and he puts his difficult thirteenth year behind him and looks forward to life at fourteen.

Critical Context

Then Again, Maybe I Won’t has all the familiar hallmarks of a Judy Blume novel: an honest portrayal of less-than-perfect children and their parents, a blunt approach to sexuality, and an authentic voice. This novel bears particular similarity to Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (1970), which captures the same moment between childhood and adolescence in a young girl’s life that Then Again, Maybe I Won’t captures in a young boy’s life. Both novels address similar concerns about sexuality, adjusting to a new town and school, and dealing with family tensions.

Then Again, Maybe I Won’t also resembles J. D. Salinger’s classic novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951). Tony, like Holden Caulfield, sees the world in black-and-white terms, holds adults up to impossibly high standards, and abhors hypocrisy. Each character relates best to a person outside the realm of adult “phonies”; Tony can find comfort only from his elderly grandmother, while Holden relates only to children.

Then Again, Maybe I Won’t, although considered neither a juvenile classic nor likely required classroom reading, nevertheless occupies a highly regarded place in the young adult canon because it speaks so effectively and honestly to teenagers and preteens about what really matters to them. Blume is a master at exploring the minds and hearts of adolescents, presenting life from their perspective. While being neither judgmental nor didactic, she manages to teach valuable lessons about honesty, family, and growing up.

Bibliography

Blume, Judy. “Places I Never Meant to Be: A Personal View.” American Libraries 30 (1999): 62-67.

Garber, Stephen. “Judy Blume: New Classicism for Kids.” English Journal 73 (April 1984): 56-59.

Gleasner, Diana. Breakthrough: Women in Writing. New York: Walker, 1980.

Lee, Betsy. Judy Blume’s Story. Minneapolis: Dillon Press, 1981.

Naylor, Alice Phoebe, and Carol Wintercorn. “Judy Blume.” In American Writers for Children Since 1960: Fiction, edited by Glenn Estes. Vol. 52 in Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Bruccoli Clark, 1986.

Weidt, Maryann. Presenting Judy Blume. Boston: Twayne, 1990.