Then Again, Maybe I Won't
Judy Blume
 Tony Miglione and his working-class family live in Jersey City, New Jersey. When his older brother Ralph and his wife Angie announce they are having a baby but lack money to care for the child, Tony's parents offer to help. Both of Tony's parents work extra shifts to try and raise enough money. Tony's father, an electrician who tries his hand at inventing in his spare time, is inspired to invent wireless electrical cartridges, which he then patents and sells to a large company called J.W. Fullerbach Electronics. Mr. Miglione is then made a plant manager for a Fullerbach factory which will manufacture his invention. This new job brings to the Miglione family a large increase in wealth and a move from Jersey City to Rosemont, New York, a fictitious affluent Long Island town where Tony has to deal with sudden changes coinciding with his growing into adolescence—his mother is becoming a social-climbing phony, his brother quits teaching and ends up going into the family business, and his grandmother (unable to speak since the removal of her larynx due to cancer and a woman who enjoyed housework) is no longer permitted to cook or clean because the family has hired a housekeeper. Add to this the emotional upheaval that comes with puberty while his new friend Joel Hoober acts obnoxiously, makes prank phone calls and has a tendency to shoplift. Tony is also a secret Peeping Tom, watching Joel's gorgeous sister, Lisa, undress from his bedroom window. He later asks for a set of binoculars too, for Christmas, under the guise of becoming a bird watcher, while they are obviously for him to view Lisa more clearly. Besides dealing with the move and his feelings about Lisa Hoober, Tony experiences anxiety attacks, which mainly strike when Joel commits a misdeed and Tony feels he cannot betray his friend and tell anyone. Joel's shoplifting is a major catalyst for these attacks, and one is so great it sends Tony into a state of shock and results in his immediate hospitalization. Tony's parents also arrange for him to meet with a psychologist (although his mother initially is against it, claiming he has no problems) who eventually gains Tony's trust. The therapy seems to be a great success for Tony. Later it is revealed that Tony has lost a measure of respect for his older brother, Ralph, when he learns that Ralph will be giving up teaching to go into his father's business. In Jersey City, Ralph had been known among his friends as "The Wizard of Seventh Grade Social Studies," and was a popular junior high school teacher. Tony does not believe Ralph is scientifically oriented, like their deceased brother Vinnie was, and is giving up his true calling to follow the same social-climbing path as his parents. Ralph rationalizes his job change in that he wishes to provide for his daughter and future children. Tony thinks to himself it does not take that much money to raise a child, and it runs the risk of spoiling those children and in turn may end up worse as a result of being raised in such an affluent environment, as he has seen firsthand with Joel's lack of parental oversight and the idea the Hoobers are doing their jobs solely by providing a fancy home life for him. While leaving a store one day, Joel is stopped by one of the store's security guards. Joel immediately denies stealing anything and looks to Tony to corroborate the story: Tony refuses and Joel is apprehended. Joel later tells Tony that his punishment for shoplifting isn't very harsh in terms of the law but he'll have to go to a military academy when school starts again. Surprisingly, Joel doesn't seem to blame Tony for this outcome. In the end, Tony finds a certain amount of peace as he accepts his life with help of his counselor. He also resolves to put away his binoculars to stop his voyeurism, but also notes wryly, "Then again, maybe I won't."