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If someone were to do a quick survey of American literature, I suspect they wouldn’t find too many novels set in the western Alaska Native village on Unalakleet. But this unlikely location provides the backdrop for the notable debut novel by Mattox Roesch, a former Minnesotan who now lives in that far-flung community.

“Sometimes We’re Always Real Same-Same” is the coming-of-age story of a young transplant to the village and explores the painful transition from adolescence to adulthood, the differences between religious and spiritual truths, and the nature of mental illness. It also takes up that age-old question of whether or not the people who we think are crazy might be the sanest among us. It’s an ambitious project, and Roesch handles it ably.

The book is narrated by one its lead characters, the newly arrived Cesar. Although his mother is a Native from Unalakleet, Cesar had, until the book’s opening, never visited the town. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, where he and his brother had been involved with gang-bangers. As we learn in the opening pages, his brother is serving a life sentence for a gang-related killing, and his mother, having left his father, has taken Cesar to her ancestral home in an effort to get him out of the realm that swallowed her elder son.

At the outset, Cesar has no plans on remaining in Unalakleet any longer than necessary. But on his first day in town, his cousin, who goes by the name Go-boy, takes him out for a ride. Go-boy had been expelled from Bible college for expressing a series of unorthodox views, including his belief that God is female and Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross brought unconditional salvation to all of humanity, not just those who believed in him. Go-boy has illustrated his beliefs with a hand-drawn tattoo of what he calls an “Eskimo Jesus” on his forearm. He tells Cesar that he plans to have a permanent version placed there soon.

Go-boy is convinced there is a worldwide conspiracy for good, and he plays a pivotal role in bringing paradise down to earth. He’s also convinced that Cesar will remain in Unalakleet and is willing to wager on this. Cesar takes the bet, with the understanding that if he remains for a year, he will get a tattoo similar to Go-boy’s.

From this somewhat lighthearted scenario, the book slowly leads into the darkness of its characters’ lives. Cesar had gotten involved in a nasty incident back in California, and while he keeps this fact hidden, he’s ridden with guilt over the fact that he got away with it. Also hanging over his head is the knowledge that, according to gang rules, once you’re in you can’t get out. If he goes back, he’ll be marked.

Unalakleet, meanwhile, isn’t exactly paradise, even if it is safer than L.A. Village life can be plagued with tragedy, and when things go wrong for one person or family, it affects the entire community. In the course of Cesar’s first summer there, tragedy seems to befall Go-boy’s family. His father, in a drunken stupor, injures Go-boy’s little brother, sending the boy into a coma and the father to prison. At roughly the same time, Go-boy’s girlfriend’s father dies in an accident. And Go-boy’s stepsister, Kiana, spends a drunken night with Cesar, creating a rift between Cesar and some of the other locals — particularly Kiana’s boyfriend.

Over the course of the book, the focus shifts from Cesar to Go-boy. The young Native man is beloved around town for his peaceable nature and perennially sunny outlook. But as events cascade, Go-boy’s behavior grows increasingly erratic. He and his girlfriend Valerie split up, and Go-boy responds by plastering the town with signs offering reasons why he loves her. He imports hundreds of T-shirts with the words “Same-Same” emblazoned on them and gives them away free in hopes that everyone in town will wear them and thereby bring on paradise. Meanwhile, his moods grow extreme and he simply vanishes without explanation for periods of time.

What grows increasingly obvious is that Go-boy is mentally ill. When Cesar arrived in town, Go-boy was in his manic period, full of grandiose ideas and brimming with infectious energy. But as he cycles into his depressive phase, the very aspects that made him so beloved start driving him in a self-destructive direction. Whether or not the community can accept him on this level is crucial to his survival and his salvation. In other words, if he can discover that his vision of humanity is correct, if we all are indeed “real same-same,” he’ll be able to pull it out. And ultimately it’s Cesar who holds the key to open that door for Go-boy.

Roesch handles this deftly and with compassion. He appears to have done his homework on mental illness. His book never bothers with clinical diagnoses. He simply lays out Go-boy’s life as a case study. And he demonstrates how Go-boy’s visions, though fueled by manic depression, have relevance for all of us.

This is a tightly written, well thought out book. Roesch never sentimentalizes. He’s clearly spent a lot of time wrestling with the issues he commits to the page, and the insights he offers build naturally as the story progresses.

Mattox Roesch has done well on his first outing. His characters are memorable, his storyline rings true, and his underlying ideas are well worth pondering. Hopefully he’ll offer up more in the future, and perhaps put Unalakleet on the literary map in the process.

David A. James lives in Fairbanks.