[1] Radboy, a fourteen-year-old deaf skateboarder, leaves his abusive home for San Francisco and becomes involved with environmental politics and the underground club scene.

[2] Principal characters include Radboy's older friend Jonnyboy, methamphetamine addict boyfriends Finn and Critter, and a Swedish environmentalist, Ula, whose fiancé has died, and who is seeking revenge for her sister's injury from a government-planted car bomb.

Advocate rates it a "tentative thumbs-up",[2] describing it as disjointed and difficult to follow, but with a realism potentially appealing to young gay and lesbian teens.

Jonathan Alexander of Lambda Book Report gives a more favorable review: "You don't always believe the characters, but you admire their punk bravado...War Boy is its own declaration of optimistic dissatisfaction, candid critique, and guerilla slapstick."

Peter Marcus of Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide writes, "Sometimes the ride is fun, sometimes not, and all too often the internal monologue detracts from plot.