Block explores four issues especially pertinent to today's world: homosexuality, interracial romance, blended families, and drug addiction. She treats all with great sensitivity, but in Weetzie's world these issues are part of normal, everyday life, so Block writes about them as such, which may offend some readers. The people in her novel interact as individuals, not as walking labels for specific causes.

Dirk can be seen both as a stereotype and a ground-breaking character in young adult literature. On one hand, he is a stereotypical gay character, sympathetic, kind, giving, and the protagonist's best friend, who attracts the attention of all the girls in school with his chiseled good looks and sophisticated demeanor. On the other hand, unlike gay characters in some other young adult works, it is clear that Dirk has sexual relationships with men.

Block shows the evolution of Dirk's love life from his...