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* AdultsAreUseless: Played straight, inverted, averted, and subverted at every possible chance.
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* ChekhovsGun: Matteo's mother's necklace.
* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler: Ruth's culinary knowledge. Very early on, she mentions as an afterthought that cassava root is poisonous uncooked. Guess what the final weapon against the LRA turns out to be?]]
* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler: Ruth's culinary knowledge. Very early on, she mentions as an afterthought that cassava root is poisonous uncooked. Guess what the final weapon against the LRA turns out to be?]]
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* {{Tykebomb}}: As is the case with the real LRA, children who are born to the female captives get automatically thrown into the army themselves, raised to fight as soon as they can walk. Jeremiah, the youngest of the [[ChildSoldiers child soldiers]], is only seven. He does not understand what a family is or that the people he kills can never "wake up" again.
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* {{Tykebomb}}: As is the case with the real LRA, children Children who are born to the female captives get automatically thrown into the army themselves, raised to fight as soon as they can walk. Jeremiah, the youngest of the [[ChildSoldiers child soldiers]], is only seven. He does not understand what a family is or that the people he kills can never "wake up" again.
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* TruthInTelevision
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* TruthInTelevisionTruthInTelevision
* {{Tykebomb}}: As is the case with the real LRA, children who are born to the female captives get automatically thrown into the army themselves, raised to fight as soon as they can walk. Jeremiah, the youngest of the [[ChildSoldiers child soldiers]], is only seven. He does not understand what a family is or that the people he kills can never "wake up" again.
* {{Tykebomb}}: As is the case with the real LRA, children who are born to the female captives get automatically thrown into the army themselves, raised to fight as soon as they can walk. Jeremiah, the youngest of the [[ChildSoldiers child soldiers]], is only seven. He does not understand what a family is or that the people he kills can never "wake up" again.
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* BodyHorror: Matteo undergoes a ''severe'' amount of physical trauma--and gets right back up every time.
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* BodyHorror: Matteo undergoes a ''severe'' amount of physical trauma--and [[{{Determinator}} gets right back up up]] every time.
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* {{Forgiveness}}: Most definitely the main theme of the novel. Especially most poignant with Matteo's realization that [[spoiler: Lieutenant Luo is not an evil person, but the product of an evil childhood, which he himself almost became]]
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* NauseaFuel: When Matteo finds out what happens to children who try to run from the LRA...''after'' they've been killed.
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* BodyHorror: Matteo undergoes a ''severe'' amount of physical trauma--and gets right back up every time.
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* MeaningfulName: "Panga" is both a local nickname for a machete and a specific type of fish. Because Panga is both bumbling and freakishly competent at his job, both meanings are equally valid.
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* Kidanova: Otto has the makings of one.
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* Kidanova: KidAnova: Otto has the makings of one.
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* Kidanova: Otto has the makings of one.
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* RunningGag: Auley's fear of lions.
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* BilingualBonus: Abdel and Nyumba are both from DR Congo, where the national language is French. In a segment where they're talking to each other in French, their ages are revealed (twelve and eleven).
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* MismatchedEyes: Sarai has one brown eye, one blue.
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* DarkestHour: When [[spoiler: Jade, Sarai, and Marunde all die at the Achwa River massacre.]]
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* DarkestHour: When [[spoiler: Jade, Sarai, Marunde, and Marunde ''ten thousand'' of the children Matteo had been hoping to save all die at the Achwa River massacre.]]
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** TeamDad: [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Lieutenant Panga]]
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* CatchPhrase: One could probably make a drinking game out of the number of times Matteo says "Inshallah" (or "God willing").
** Matteo uses "God is good" to bookend the novel. This is actually a Muslim prayer known as the Takbir.
** Matteo uses "God is good" to bookend the novel. This is actually a Muslim prayer known as the Takbir.
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* TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside: A touching example between Matteo and Ruth. Ruth's appearances are described in unflattering ways that leave the reader with very little doubt that she is an ugly girl, by most conventions. Matteo holds such a fond opinion of her that he only ever sees her as beautiful and doesn't understand others' remarks to the contrary.
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** Otto probably applies, too. He has two brothers and a sister, but [[spoiler: he is only ever reunited with the eldest brother, Thomas, while a friend of Thomas' remarks, "I thought your whole family was dead."]]
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* NoNameGiven: Ruth is known as "[[ShrinkingViolet The girl with the downcast eyes]]" for a significant portion of the novel because Matteo can't work up the nerve to ask her name. Many, ''many'' other characters--the majority, in fact--are known only by first name. Some characters are known only by a nickname--"Panga," for example, means machete and indicates that the eponymous character is lethal in battle. Some characters, like the ones in the Amal regiment, even discard their real names and take up nicknames to distance themselves from the lives they can never go back to. Luo and Mrs. Alowo are known only by their last names [[spoiler: Luo's first name turns out to be David]]. Marunde outright refuses to give out his surname. And it's not until the very end that Auley and Ruth get last names: Zuma and Mallory.
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* NoNameGiven: Ruth is known as "[[ShrinkingViolet The girl with the downcast eyes]]" for a significant portion of the novel because Matteo can't work up the nerve to ask her name. Many, ''many'' other characters--the majority, in fact--are known only by first name. Some characters are known only by a nickname--"Panga," nickname: "Panga," for example, means machete "machete" and indicates that the eponymous character is lethal in battle. battle, while the boy everyone calls "Lazy" has a problem falling asleep in the middle of duty. Some characters, like the ones children in the Amal regiment, even discard their real names and take up nicknames to distance themselves from the lives they can never go back to. Lieutenant Luo and Mrs. Alowo are known only by their last names [[spoiler: but Luo's first name turns out is revealed to be David]]. David by Lucy, who grew up with him]]. Marunde outright refuses to give out offer his surname. And it's not until the very end that Auley and Ruth get last names: Zuma and Mallory.
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* NoNameGiven: Ruth is known as "[[ShrinkingViolet The girl with the downcast eyes]]" for a significant portion of the novel because Matteo can't work up the nerve to ask her name. Many, ''many'' other characters--the majority, in fact--are known only by first name. Some characters are known only by a nickname--"Panga," for example, means machete and indicates that the eponymous character is lethal in battle. Some characters, like the ones in the Amal regiment, even discard their real names and take up nicknames to distance themselves from the lives they can never go back to. Luo and Mrs. Alowo are known only by their last names [[spoiler: Luo's first name turns out to be David]]. Marunde outright refuses to give out his surname. And it's not until the very end that Auley and Ruth get last names: Zuma and Mallory.
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* GrayEyes: Jeremiah and Lucy. [[spoiler: This is how Matteo realizes that Lucy is Jeremiah's mother.]]
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* GreenEyes: Both Matteo and Kalid have them. They're visual proof that the boys have North African blood in them, as it's not entirely uncommon for Arabs in that region to have green eyes.
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** Later on, Matteo sustains ''immense'' scarring of his own; he is easily as disfigured as Asher, if not more.
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* GoodScarsEvilScars: Inverted; Asher is severely disfigured from a machete wound while Luo merely has a slender scar running through his eye socket; Asher turns out to be a reliable ally and a loyal friend while Luo is often the one giving Matteo his daily beatings.
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* DeadLittleSister: Asher has a dead ''older'' sister, who was killed when they tried to escape the LRA together six years ago. Her death has crippled him with fear and prevented him from making another escape attempt.
** Also [[spoiler: at the end of the book, Luo reveals that Kalid has been dead since day one.]]
** Also [[spoiler: at the end of the book, Luo reveals that Kalid has been dead since day one.]]
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* NaiveNewcomer: Matteo and Auley start off as this.
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* TroublingUnchildhoodBehavior: Mostly for Asher and Otto. Both times it's shown to be a facade they picked up from the adults bossing them around.
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* BuryYourGays: It's mentioned that the LRA hates homosexuals about as much as they hate Muslims, and it's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Marunde was gay]].
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* BuryYourGays: It's mentioned that the LRA hates homosexuals about as much as they hate Muslims, and it's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Marunde was is gay]].
