Language Barrier: Some of the Migliones' first hires as maids can't speak English, only speaking Spanish or French (one is from Haiti, where French is one of the official languages). It takes them a while to find one (Maxine) who does speak English, and Tony's father in the meantime suggests they find one who speaks Italian. Carmella Miglione– Tony's mother, who eventually goes by the name Carol, much to Tony's dismay. She becomes self-absorbed with her social status once the family moves to Rosemont. Her novel “Then again, Maybe I won’t” was published in 1971 by Macmillans. The book focused on sensitive topics of sexuality and transformation from puberty to manhood. The story takes place in Long Island, New York and about a boy named Tony Miglione who undergoes a major change, after his family moved to a wealthy neighborhood. He experiences many differences and took him some time to fit in. At first, he made a friend named Joel, who was a bad influence and had a habit of shoplifting. Joel had a sixteen year old sister who got undressed every night without pulling down her window blinds. Theft: Joel repeatedly steals from stores and the school cafeteria. It bothers Tony immensely, but he’s afraid to say anything.

Bizarre Taste in Food: Tony Miglione certainly thinks that his new friend Joel has bizarre taste in food; as he says, "He likes some strange sandwiches." His favorite is salami, tomato and mayonnaise, and his second favorite is onion slices on buttered whole wheat bread. Raging Stiffie: Tony is going through puberty, and often gets erections at embarrassing times, such as in school. Lonely Rich Kid: Applies to Tony regarding his relationship with his family, from whom he becomes increasingly alienated as the story progresses. To Joel as well, as his acting out is partially because he has trouble getting actual attention from his parents.But while such accusatory responses have come from adults, the letters Blume has received from young readers paint a different picture. ‘Thank you for letting me know I’m normal,’ read one of the letters presented.” (Sara Antil) At first the book didn’t receive any applauds however, as time passed people started realizing the importance of gaining more knowledge about something rarely talked about. Blume was fearless about her work and said “It’s best not to dwell on what you’ve written, wishing it could be different.” (Judy Blume) The book eventually became successful and left a strong message to its readers.

She achieved many things and also faced challenges because of the ideas conveyed in her books. She was awarded over ninety literary awards. “She was included among the Living Legends in the Writer category by the Library of Congress in 2000 for her distinguished work for cultural heritage. He has received three lifetime achievement awards.” (Famous Authors) With recognitions, she also had books that were criticized and are present in the banned books’ list. 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.

Tony Miglione is an Italian-American teenager whose family moves to an upper-class neighborhood after his father becomes wealthy from an invention. Themes involve class conflict, peer pressure, and the trials of male puberty. (In the latter respect, it is intentionally something of a gender-inverted complement to Blume's preceding novel, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret..) 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 family moves to a Long Island town called Rosemont and discovers a lifestyle filled with all of life's creature comforts, and more! 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. 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. Judy Blume is a novel American writer and a author who was born in february 12, 1938 in New Jersey. She was born in a time period full occurence of upturns and downturns globally. As she was growing up, she witnessed the US going through the Cold War, which played a big role in her upbringing. She grew up in a Jewish family, a big aspect that is portrayed in her writings. Her father was a dentist, Ralph Sussman and her mother was a homemaker, Esther. Raised in a suburban life impacted her writing also. Her interests became really specific in her early life.