Then Again Maybe I Wont Lisa
Dwelling Schoolhouse Book REVIEW
Book: And so Again, Maybe I Won't
Author: Judy Blume
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Immature Readers, reprinted 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1481413657
ISBN-10: 1481413651
Language level: 3
(i=nothing objectionable; 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms; 3=some cursing and/or profanity; 4=a lot of blasphemous and/or profanity; 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)
Recommended reading level: For ages 12 and upward, but I would say at least 16 and up
Rating: * one star
(5 stars=EXCELLENT; four stars=Skillful; 3 stars=Fair; ii stars=POOR; 1 star=VERY POOR; no stars=Non RECOMMENDED)
Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker
Disclosure: Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide complimentary copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion. Any books donated to Dwelling School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library. No other compensation has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review.
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Blume, Judy. And so Again, Maybe I Won't (published in 1971 by Bradbury Press Inc., a division of Macmillan Publishing Visitor, New York City, NY; republished in 1986 by Dell Publishing, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Grouping Inc., 666 Fifth Ave., New York City, NY 10103). Thirteen year Anthony (Tony) Miglione, who will exist going into seventh grade, lives with his male parent Vic, an electrician, mother Carmella, who works at Ohrbach'due south department store, and his grandmother, who had cancer of the larynx and cannot talk but does all their cooking, in the family's home in Jersey Metropolis, NJ. Tony's older blood brother Ralph, a teacher, lives with his married woman Angie, who is going to have a baby, in the upstairs flat. An even older blood brother Vinnie had been killed in Vietnam. Just as Tony must deal with the onset of puberty, other problems arise. Tony's dad invents an electrical cartridge which is purchased by Fullerbach Electronics, and the Migliones move to upscale Rosemont, NY, on Long Island for Vic to manage product of his invention, then Tony must acclimate to a new neighborhood and schoolhouse. He makes friends with a neighbor boy his age, Joel Hoober, simply he finds that Joel engages in shoplifting, and Tony is at a loss to know what to practise well-nigh information technology. Tony develops a crush on Joel'south 16 twelvemonth former sis Lisa who parades effectually in a bikini so that Tony notices her curves. Also he feels that his female parent and even Ralph seem to exist turning into order-climbing snobs. And when a maid is hired to do the cooking, Grandma shuts herself in her room. All all of a sudden, Tony starts to become ill with severe stomach pains. He spends some time in the hospital and so begins seeing a psychiatrist. Will Tony be all correct? Tin he learn how to cope with his difficulties? And what will happen betwixt him and Joel?
Yeah, I actually read a Judy Blume book. This author does not take a skillful reputation with me. My wife, who read some of Blume's books when younger, and her brother and sister-in-law, who homeschooled their children, had some experiences with Judy Blume books in which chronic bad attitudes and behaviors were expressed by children which were never properly resolved. Our friend Wendi Capehart wrote, "We don't read whatsoever Judy Blume hither. I read several of them when I was a child, and as I call back, nearly all of them had something objectionable." Some other friend, Sally Perz, said, "I read Judy Blume equally a child; I remember plenty not to allow them in our dwelling. Menstruation. Her adolescent books are bad enough. However, having been of the generation that was targeted for Judy Blume's books most teenage sexual practice (Forever, Wifey) and having read them all, I volition never buy a Judy Blume book or allow my children to read them." However, since Then Again, Maybe I Won't is advertised every bit "a guy's perspective on adolescent hang-ups," someone wondered if it might be advisable for a teen or preteen boy to read equally a starting place for a word on puberty. Having "been in that location, done that" myself (though some fifty years agone), I can attest that it fairly accurately portrays the malaise which occurs in boys at that age, but it does so from a totally worldly, most humanistic viewpoint. Oh, religion is mentioned, but it is basically a purely social, even somewhat secularized religion that really has no positive impact on people'southward lives.
Hither is a catalog of objections. Tony calls Mrs. Buttfield, Angie's sick-tempered nurse, "The Barrel," and the phrase "My God" is used as an interjection. There are references to smoking cigars, and Lisa smokes a cigarette, although Tony convinces her to quit. Joel invites Tony and another boy to his house when his parents are abroad, and they freely sample the liquor cabinet. A friend tells Tony if you lot swallow a lot of olives "you make out good with the girls when yous're older." When Ralph and Angie denote that they're having a baby, Tony can't assist but "recollect about what you have to exercise to become somebody pregnant." Joel keeps a stash of paperbacks which are obviously sexually explicit. Tony says that when he reads them, "I tin feel myself get hard." He also talks almost his wet dreams and even mentions masturbation. And Tony finds that he can meet Lisa in her bedroom from his bedchamber window, so he asks for a pair of binoculars "for bird watching" so that he tin await at her undress, telling the psychiatrist that he has seen her naked. I person described the book succinctly as "the main character using a pair of binoculars to be a peeping tom." On the one hand, I would not say that the book is totally evil. Yes, Tony makes some mistakes, but he learns a few proficient lessons well-nigh how to make better choices. On the other hand, I'k not sure that the occasional nuggets are worth dealing with all the luggage. For example, at the stop Tony thinks that he ought to put the binoculars away and then they're hard to become, just his last words are "Then once more—maybe I won't."
Note: As I read other reviews for this book which said things like, "Information technology's most a daughter who merely moved to New Jersey," and "I felt deplorable for Margaret and her friends considering they seemed to be then self-conscious and worried virtually this normal man transition," I began to wonder if there were ii editions of And then Again, Maybe I Won't, one for boys and one for girls. Finally, I realized that these reviews were really for a previous Judy Blume book Are You There God? It'south Me, Margaret. Blume said that given her earlier novel was about a daughter inbound puberty making the transition to womanhood, she decided to write one near a boy going through puberty and making a transition to manhood.
Source: https://homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/then-again-maybe-i-wont/
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