Whistle Me Home touches on many "hot button" issues of the day. Most important to the plot is the issue of sexual orientation.

The novel offers no judgment or condemnation of this lifestyle, except in terms of Noli's highly personal response to TJ's revelation. Her angry response—hurling sexual epithets—is probably best seen as a reaction to his betrayal and her own feelings of loss, rather than her opinion on the topic of homosexuality in general. It is interesting to note that Wersba takes a fairly adult and hard-edged approach to TJ's sexuality.

Unlike other teenage books which depict young gays as inexperienced and questioning, the implication here is that TJ had an active, possibly promiscuous, past in New York City. This creates a wide schism between his background and Noli's sexual inexperience.

Another social issue of significance is Noli's alcoholism. At first...