Awesome Art: Aside from the cartoony drawings Arnold has made, he has some detailed pencil drawings of a bird, his friends at Reardon High School, and him and Rowdy jumping in Turtle Lake. The detailed drawings are great to look at if you're a fan of still life images.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: During Grandmother's wake, some billionaire shows up and says that he has one of Grandmother's powwow costumes. This moment comes out of nowhere and is never referenced again.
Harsher in Hindsight: Early in the book, Arnold praises his talent at masturbation, and responds to the hypothetical scolding that he shouldn't discuss masturbation in public by proclaiming, "Well, tough, I'm going to talk about it because EVERYBODY does it. And EVERYBODY likes it." This is less funny considering the sexual harassment allegations against Sherman Alexie, including inappropriate sexual talk towards his female friends, especially since Arnold is partly his Author Avatar.
Ho Yay: Lampshaded between Arnold and Gordy. And between Arnold and Rowdy. Gordy seems to reciprocate, by arguing that Arnold should get a boner over books. Arnold even proclaims "I was a happy faggot!" referencing how Rowdy's father berated him for caring so much about Rowdy.
Squick: Arnold's dad talking dirty. Also the fact that when Arnold's parents first met, his mom was almost three times his dad's age.
Tear Jerker: It's a whole series of deaths towards the end.
The Woobie: Jesus Christ, Arnold's life sucks. Born into a poor Native American family on a reservation, his dog dies in the first chapter as a result of his parents being unable to afford medical treatment and being forced to shoot them. It doesn't get much easier from then on.
