Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush | Social Sensitivity

Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush Social Sensitivity

Hamilton handles skillfully issues not usually associated with young adult literature: sex, mental retardation, child abuse, and a fatal hereditary disease. The issue of sex is presented openly. The teen-age Dab is gentle and handsome; and, although a failure at school, he has no problem finding girls to bring to their apartment. It is not unusual for Tree to wake him in the morning and find the girl still in his room. Vy worries about Tree and questions her about boys, but she has no questions or concerns about Dab. Ironically, Vy is questioning the wrong child. Tree is so absorbed in caring for her brother that she seems to have no interest in boys until the end of the novel. Then, when she is in a sense released from the apartment, she enjoys a flirtation with Silversmith's son, although still under the watchful eye of her mother.