Troubled Cesar leaves his gangbanging life behind

in Los Angeles to help his mother reconnect with

her estranged family in rural Alaska, where she

hopes they both can carve out a fresh start. When

Cesar arrives, he meets his college dropout cousin,

Go-Boy, who believes he's part of a good world

conspiracy and who bets Cesar he will stay in

Alaska for a year.

Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same is the

account of two unlikely cousins and their parallel

journeys through guilt and loneliness into the

bonds of friendship. Set in a location like no other,

the setting inevitably becomes its own character,

pushing and pulling against Cesar and Go-boy as

they struggle with the quirky challenges of life in

Unalakleet, Alaska. With his absent father and an

older brother in prison for a gang murder, Cesar

is badly in need of a male role-model and the

acceptance of friends and family.

In his insightful and thoroughly engaging debut,

Mattox Roesch has created a fresh, appealing

voice along with a wonderful cast of characters.

Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same tells

the surprising story of a young man finding his way

and his place in a world that can seem both too

large and too small. What Cesar finally discovers is

the power of friendship and the potential positive

strength that springs from a tight-knit community.

He learns the ways in which becoming a part of that

community, though at times scary and restrictive,

can also be fulfilling and even exhilarating.