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Then Again, Maybe I Won't

Judy Blume (Goodreads Author)

3.75 · Rating details · 12,840 ratings · 395 reviews

Grade 6-10 When his hardworking inventor father strikes it rich and moves the family from working class Jersey City to wealthy Rosemont, Tony Miglione finds that everything from friendships to school takes on a new and confusing twist. Suddenly his mother is intent on climbing the social ladder; his grandmother isn't allowed to cook for the family anymore since they've hir ...more

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Paperback, 164 pages

Published July 1st 1986 by Yearling (first published 1971)

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Best Female Teen Books

895 books — 1,443 voters

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Average rating 3.75 ·

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· 12,840 ratings · 395 reviews

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Jun 06, 2007 Jeremy rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen

Us kids all needed SOMEBODY to give us the lowdown on periods and boners back in the '80s, and Judy Blume tended to be a bit more reliable than that weird kid on the bus. This one's kinda the boy version of "Are You There God...", demystifying for pre-adolescent readers that unfamiliar new stain in their undy-dundypants.

Can you imagine being Judy Blume's child? You'd have been the most well-informed kid on the playground. I bet parents never let their kids go to sleepovers at the Blumes, though ...more

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Aug 05, 2007 Recynd rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult-kids

I think I was about ten years old when I read this book (one of a Judy Blume box set); I suspect my mother has yet to recover from my ensuing questions: "Mommy, the book I'm reading has a boy in it who keeps saying that 'it went up'. Why would he be embarrassed if his ZIPPER went up? Was it written wrong?"

After my mother's commendable (and surprisingly unflappable)explanation, I had some serious thinkin' to do...I mean, I grew up without brothers, so the nitty-gritty of the workings of male anat ...more

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Dec 22, 2019 Kerri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Yet another highly enjoyable Judy Blume book! In this one, Tony's family become wealthy and move to a new neighborhood. There's some good aspects to this of course, but Tony's mother is desperate to impress the neighbors, to earn their approval and acceptance. This happens quite frequently, and, on a smaller scale, I have observed many people falling into this way of thinking/living, so it was easy to appreciate Tony's honest take on the situation.

This is quite a frank book, exploring puberty, ...more

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Jun 07, 2019 Manybooks rated it liked it

Shelves: families, judy-blume, friendship, childrens-literature, book-reviews

Then Again, Maybe I Won't is actually one of the few Judy Blume novels from the 1970s that I did not read as a teenager (in the early 1980s). Yes, I did in fact remember signing Then Again, Maybe I Won't out of our school library, but then returned it mostly unread because at that time of my life (from about 1980 to 1984) I was just not all that interested in reading a novel for pleasure (and in fact any novel) that did not have a teenaged girl but instead a teenaged boy as a main protagonist (a Then Again, Maybe I Won't is actually one of the few Judy Blume novels from the 1970s that I did not read as a teenager (in the early 1980s). Yes, I did in fact remember signing Then Again, Maybe I Won't out of our school library, but then returned it mostly unread because at that time of my life (from about 1980 to 1984) I was just not all that interested in reading a novel for pleasure (and in fact any novel) that did not have a teenaged girl but instead a teenaged boy as a main protagonist (as I was personally at that time finding the boys in my class annoyingly immature and boring and could therefore also not imagine finding Then Again, Maybe I Won't either all that relatable or readable, since Tony Miglione, the main protagonist, indeed is a thirteen year old teenaged boy).

In fact, I never did end up reading Then Again, Maybe I Won't until just a day or so ago, when I came across a vintage copy at my local independent bookstore and thought, well, I guess I should probably also now read Then Again, Maybe I Won't and see how Judy Blume manages to handle a main character who is male and whether her switch from a protagonist who is a teenaged "she" to one who is a teenaged "he" reads realistically and feels successful. And yes indeed, in my humble opinion, with Then Again, Maybe I Won't Judy Blume definitely demonstrates that she can and does pen her main "boy" character of Tony Miglione as a realistic teenager, experiencing issues of male puberty (including his first penile erections and so-called wet dreams), family dysfunction, and after moving, encountering a new "best" friend who turns out to be not so stellar and is in fact a serial shoplifter even though he tends to be considered a neighbourhood paragon by many.

Now while I certainly have despised on an emotional and personal level how Tony's mother is portrayed by Judy Blue as being rather a typical and increasingly arrogant urban social climber in many ways, considering that in reality there sadly are and always have been many individuals exhibiting these types of character traits, Carmella Miglione's change and devolution in Then Again, Maybe I Won't from a previously mostly contented and generally sweet natured housewife and mother to a person who upon the Miglione family striking it rich when Tony's electrician father goes into business with a well heeled partner (selling his electrical box inventions) and moving to a more posh and upper-class neighbourhood, this does definitely feel painfully realistic. For although we might as readers be and rightfully so annoyed at and by Tony's mother's increasing snobbiness and her lack of basic understanding and empathy when she basically lets the new and glamorous housekeeper remove the grandmother (who had previously done all of the family's cooking) from her realm as queen of the kitchen (with cooking for the family being the grandmother's one remaining joy and delight), we also do see and must understand that Judy Blume is not simply depicting an unrealistically nasty scenario here but something that sadly feels real and very much woefully so (and as such, this realism certainly should be both appreciated and feted, if not actively lauded).

And indeed, the only part of Then Again, Maybe I Won't which I (personally) have found a bit tacked on and not developed enough, although of course considering the time period still realistic enough in and of itself, is that part about Tony's older brother Vinny having been killed in action in Vietnam, simply because, while Vinny is often mentioned in Then Again, Maybe I Won't, Judy Blume also never really seems to do all that much with this and does not in my opinion ever smoothly and specifically incorporate either Vinny's death or how the family has reacted and feels about this and/or the Vietnam War in general into the storyline itself (to the point that for me it actually even kind of feels as though since Then Again, Maybe I Won't was published in 1971, Judy Blume might have felt that she somehow just needed to include a Vietnam War casualty but that she never really sufficiently then expands on this and kind of just leaves Vinny Miglione having been killed in action in Vietnam hanging in space).

...more

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Jun 07, 2007 Karen rated it liked it

Shelves: when-i-was-little

Ah yes, my introduction to hard-ons and semen. I had no idea what either of them were, and they're not really explained in the book, so I was in the dark for some time. Why does this guy get to masturbate while Margaret simply waits to need a bra and get her period! Unfair! At least Deenie got to get off in the midst of having scholiosis, I suppose... ...more

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Oct 12, 2019 Neil R. Coulter rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

The old-smelling used 1973 paperback copy I read has this catchphrase written across the top of the front cover:

The funny, touching story of a boy with problems.

Wow. Who wouldn't want to read that?

When I was growing up, Judy Blume was regarded as a very edgy author for middle-school-level readers. Schools and libraries banned some of her books, or kept them behind the checkout desk. Among those books, Then Again, Maybe I Won't was known to be the most dangerous. My parents wouldn't have wanted me reading it when I was a kid, and so I didn't.

But it wasn't just because I knew my parents wouldn't approve—it was also the general tone of Blume's books. I remember a lot of youth-focused books in that era were based in the real world and featured protagonists in urban settings (especially New York or New Jersey); in families that were in some way dysfunctional; enduring problems at school and navigating adolescence; dealing with class and race issues. I was growing up in a rural, agricultural small town in the Midwest, part of a loving family, and stories like these seemed to have nothing to do with me. Somehow my literary imagination didn't extend to putting myself into these settings. I didn't care for the slightly gritty, urban realism. Perhaps that's one reason I tended to choose fantasy stories for my childhood reading. Narnia, Prydain, and Middle-Earth were a lot more appealing to me than a present-day lower-middle-class neighborhood in New Jersey.

Then Again follows this genre of youth fiction from that era. Tony, the protagonist, and his family (not a terribly dysfunctional or broken family, though with plenty of room for improvement) move from their working class neighborhood in Jersey City to an upper-class area of Long Island after his dad becomes recognized as a genius and has all the money the family could possibly want, forever. Tony befriends the boy next door, who looks perfect on the surface but is actually a real jerk with the beginnings of some serious problems. Tony has his own problems, figuring out how to deal with his family and with his own adolescent development.

Reading this for the first time as an adult, I don't particularly love it. The prose style is fine, but (to me) a little bland. Even though Blume tackles some tough issues in a helpful, open way, I'm very uncomfortable with the same things that led to the book's risky reputation years ago. Tony floats through life, wrestling internally with questions about himself and others around him, but he gets almost no true wisdom or guidance. He's on his own.

Because no one can help him, there's no one to tell him that some of his actions are completely wrong. He attends a church youth group, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with spiritual guidance. The local pastor feels distant and uninvolved, even though he can surely tell that Tony and his family need help. Tony's dad seems like a good man, but he doesn't know how to be meaningfully involved in his son's life; and his mother is distracted by their new wealth. The one person who might be able to help Tony is his grandmother—but she can't speak, because she lost her larynx to cancer. I found it really disturbing to have a character in forced silence.

It's interesting picking up a book whose title I heard so often in my childhood. For me, this is a case where the book would never have passed my standards for youth literature, and the years and cultural changes between its original publication and now have not rendered it more endearing or helpful. ...more

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Feb 04, 2009 Richard rated it really liked it

Recommended to Richard by: San Francisco Books & Booze Bookclub

Shelves: fiction, classic, bookclub, kid-and-teen-lit

I read this for a real-world book club; it took about two hours to breeze through. Strangely, it was published in 1971 when I would have been twelve years old, just like the boy in the story, but I never heard of it then and was only vaguely aware of the author's name until now.

It struck me as a strange book. The prose was pretty juvenile, with short and uncomplicated sentences. Is it intended for 'tweens? I don't know, it seems a nice "I guess I'm not a freak after all" message might be good ab ...more

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Mar 29, 2008 Joanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult

This was one of the few Judy Blume books I didn't read when I was younger. I guess it always seemed like a boy's book to me but a friend was going on and on about reading it when she was younger and I felt like I was missing out so I got if from the library. Wasn't there an After School Special about the book too? I know I'm dating myself but I think Leif Garret was in it and he just always seemed like bad news-maybe that was why I stayed away from the book back then too.

The book is kind of like ...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Rory rated it it was amazing

I know I keep gushing about Judy Blume but once again she proves to be one of the best young adult novelists ever. I loved that this story--told from the POV of the male lead Tony--is just a strong a reflection of the juinior high years as "Are There God---It's Me Margaret."

The story is a simple one--a poor Italian kid's family becomes successful and moves from Jersey City to a toney neighborhood and exactly how this changes the entire mores of the each person. It's about being the new kid in sc ...more

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Aug 31, 2009 Ellen rated it really liked it

I read this when I was about 8 or 9--so yeah, it scared the heck out of me. There I was, a fourth grader, reading about a boy who watched a naked girl through her windows. I don't think I really grasped the whole thing back then--I think I'll go back and reread it. I remember, at the time, one of my best friends was also reading this book, and we found it dirty and scandalous. We giggled, and read the pages like we were about to get yelled at by our teachers.

This book was sure different than th ...more

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Jul 21, 2009 Jen B rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009

The boy version of Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. I enjoyed this one (though not as much as Margaret). I never read this as a kid, but reading it as an adult makes me appreciate how much of a pioneer Judy Blume really was. She's not afraid to write about anything, no matter how taboo the subject. I'll definitely be sharing this one with my son when he's a bit older. Even though it's a bit dated now, Tony's teenage problems are universal and still very much relevant. ...more

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May 28, 2018 Joan Nehls rated it it was ok

Then again, maybe I shouldn’t reread all the Judy Blume books from my youth.

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Aug 11, 2020 Charlotte rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 28, 2017 Marian added it

Blast from the past!

I was looking for a light read and I realized that there are a lot of books on my shelf that I bought at Second & Charles last year but never read. So this week I decided to read Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume, who was always one of my favorite authors when I was a kid.

This is the story of Tony Miglione, a thirteen year old boy from Jersey City. His family is used to living a modest lifestyle until his father sells an invention and makes quite a bit of money! The fam ...more

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Jun 17, 2014 Shawn Thrasher rated it liked it

Judy Blume is J.D. Salinger for the tween set. Like The Catcher in the Rye, Then Again Maybe I Won't has the same elements, just a younger protagonist. Exhibit A: Angst and isolation; it's lonely being a 13 year old boy. Exhibit B: obsessed with sex; at least Holden Caulfield, as creepy as he was, wasn't a peeping tom. Exhibit C: Phoneys. Lots of phoneys. I always approach Judy Blume cautiously, because I know as a kid whenever I read her books, something happened that made me feel weird or gros ...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Liz Hokanson rated it liked it

Shelves: engl-420

This book made me feel uncomfortable. But then I realized that was part of what made Judy Blume as an author successful during the 1970s. She wrote about issues that tended to be swept under the rug by the culture (and in fact, still are a bit). Then Again, Maybe I Won't is a realistic fiction novel that tells the story of Tony Miglione as his family goes from lower middle class to more upper class. I thought some of the issues it brought up (selling out, girls, friendship,and shoplifting) are r ...more

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May 23, 2008 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: 10-15 year olds

Shelves: youngadult

When his dad's invention makes a lot of money, the family moves to a more upscale neighborhood, and suddenly Tony has got a great view into the window of the older teen girl next door. Hmm, maybe his binoculars can be used for more than birdwatching!
But then, he feels kind of guilty about that, and about some shoplifting, and his stomach is definitely bothering him. New school, new housekeeper, new feelings about girls, too. Things just aren't the same anymore. It's a lot for a kid to handle.
The ...more

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Feb 04, 2018 Caitlyn rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018, young-adult

Good old Judy Bloom, being a mother to thousands of children decades after first publication.

Essentially this is the boy's version of "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret". The struggles of blossoming manhood must be something that young men would find to be very scary and terrifying which is what makes books like these good. It's not always easy to turn to your parents as a kid; you're young and this world of puberty is new and embarrassing.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to get more young chaps to re ...more

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Apr 15, 2015 Loretta Gaffney rated it really liked it

Ignore the horrible cover. This often overlooked book plays second fiddle to Are You There God? but is every bit as poignant and funny. Loved the working class family made good story (which I'd forgotten) and the grandmother/grandson relationship is so touching...bring a hankie, is all I'm saying. ...more

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Feb 04, 2015 Nick Pageant rated it liked it

Shelves: kiddies

Awesome book for boys. I read it when I was around 12 and I still remember it. Good stuff.

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Jul 26, 2019 Katt Hansen rated it liked it

Shelves: coming-of-age, young-adult

Another book from the 'coming of age' stack by Judy Blume, this time doing what was incredibly daring in the early 1970s when this was written and confronting some real issues, such as puberty, a boy's changing body (including the whole 'wet dream' incident) and a lot of voyeuristic stalker behavior that would get him arrested in this current timeline.

Tony is going through a lot of changes in regards to his life, his body, his friends, and just about every aspect of things. The fact that his an ...more

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Jan 16, 2020 Ava Gasson rated it really liked it

Have you moved ever? Have you ever made bad choices just to fit in? If these apply to you, you are in the same boat as Tony. I really loved this book and many others written by Judy Blume. This is a realistic fiction book with a descriptive and fast passed writing style. I love the emotion and the writing style of Judy Blume so much. This book is told in first person point of view from the main character Tony. Tony is emotional and a very confused kid. He sees many things in a very complicated w ...more

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Apr 23, 2017 Leslie W rated it it was amazing

Just as good as i remembered. I bought for my son, was feeling too lazy to walk upstairs and get my book, so blew through this in a night. I miss the 70's. ...more

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Sep 23, 2017 Lisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-children, retro-reads

I know I read this as a kid, but so much is unfamiliar. Judy Blume is a total queen, I am do excited to be revisiting her books ♡

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Nov 23, 2017 T. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: re-reading, fiction, kid-stuff

Was so interesting to return to this book and to theorize why it was my fave Judy Blume book as a kid.

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Nov 23, 2017 Vicki rated it really liked it

Shelves: gradschool

I laughed out loud multiple times.

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Nov 05, 2020 Esme Ireland rated it really liked it

I would rate this book a 4 1/2, it was a very enjoyable read!

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Sep 17, 2017 Jackson Abells rated it it was ok

Although many of the ideas used in this book have been used plenty of times before, they still feel fresh and original while you read it. Judy Blume's writing is absolutely great and the characters feel real. But pacing is pretty fast and the ending is really abrupt. The ending was built up but I still felt like it wasn't really ended well. I noticed some spelling errors (but I have an older edition of the book so it has probably been fixed by now) such as "lamb shop" But overall the book is ver ...more

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Oct 18, 2008 Vanessa rated it liked it

Like many readers, I stumbled on this as part of a boxed set, bought for me buy my nice Grandma after I convinced her to read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. I suspect she would have been a little nonplussed to learn the story dealt with topics like wet dreams, voyeurism and intricate planning of how to hide erections. Most of that of course went completely over my head at the time (although I did have the sense or lack of courage to not inquire from the nearest adult what those things might be ...more

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Oct 18, 2009 Ella Perkins rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 8th-grade-books-senorita-michan

This book is about a boy whose life just got weirder. He had to move to a richer environment because his dad got a new job. When he makes a new friend it makes his life very different. His friend’s sister undresses with the blinds open. If that doesn’t say weird then what does?

I can make a text-to-self connection. My connection is that when new people come it my school they are very different. Some are weird different and some are good different. There is one person who is weird different. This ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Maybe YA - Book about moving to a new home after father invents wireless plug. [s]	4	17	Dec 01, 2019 07:33PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. 80s or 90s teen fiction. group of boys leave tips for waitress hidden in leftover food, waitress gets angry. [s]	3	32	Aug 09, 2017 08:41AM

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About Judy Blume

Judy Blume

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Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, New Jersey, making up stories inside her head. She has spent her adult years in many places doing the same thing, only now she writes her stories down on paper. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Blubber; Just as Long as We're Together; and the five book series about the irrepressible Fu Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, New Jersey, making up stories inside her head. She has spent her adult years in many places doing the same thing, only now she writes her stories down on paper. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Blubber; Just as Long as We're Together; and the five book series about the irrepressible Fudge. She has also written three novels for adults, Summer Sisters; Smart Women; and Wifey, all of them New York Times bestsellers. More than 80 million copies of her books have been sold, and her work has been translated into thirty-one languages. She receives thousands of letters a year from readers of all ages who share their feelings and concerns with her.
Judy received a B.S. in education from New York University in 1961, which named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1996, the same year the American Library Association honored her with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. Other recognitions include the Library of Congress Living Legends Award and the 2004 National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
She is the founder and trustee of The Kids Fund, a charitable and educational foundation. She serves on the boards of the Author's Guild; the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators; the Key West Literary Seminar; and the National Coalition Against Censorship.
Judy is a longtime advocate of intellectual freedom. Finding herself at the center of an organized book banning campaign in the 1980's she began to reach out to other writers, as well as teachers and librarians, who were under fire. Since then, she has worked tirelessly with the National Coalition Against Censorship to protect the freedom to read. She is the editor of Places I Never Meant To Be, Original Stories by Censored Writers.
Judy has completed a series of four chapter books -- The Pain & the Great One -- illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson. She has co-written and produced a film adaptation of her book Tiger Eyes, and is currently writing a new novel.
Judy and her husband George Cooper live on islands up and down the east coast. They have three grown children and one grandchild. ...more