George M. Johnson and Leah Johnson’s Holiday YA Rom-Com Offers a ‘Glimpse of a Possible Future’ (Exclusive)

Leah Johnson and George M. Johnson are two beloved names in the young adult genre. Leah debuted with 2020’s You Should See Me in a Crown, soon followed by 2021’s Rise to the Sun and a series of middle grade novels. George is the author of multiple nonfiction books for young readers, including their acclaimed 2020 memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue.

But teaming up to write their new YA rom-com, There’s Always Next Year, was fresh territory for them both.

Set over the course of New Year’s Eve day, There’s Always Next Year, out Dec. 2 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux, centers on cousins Andy, a student journalist, and Domonique, a social media influencer. The dual point of view novel follows the pair as they face their own respective challenges throughout a jam-packed 24 hours, like navigating crushes and standing up to the encroaching gentrification of their Indiana hometown.

The book first arose from a period in Leah’s career when she needed a new project to work on, the author tells PEOPLE. After penning two YA novels back-to-back, she felt “isolated” in her writing life, and wanted to collaborate with another queer author.

“I had this sort of half-baked idea about a small town [on] New Year’s Eve,” Leah says. “I was like, ‘What if Schitt’s Creek was Black? What could we do with that?’”

George was an “easy ask,” especially since the two shared an agent. But both authors had to learn how to write a book together. For George, this meant venturing into an entirely new genre.

“I would literally just be reading Leah’s stuff and being like, ‘Oh, this is what voice and fiction looks like,’” George tells PEOPLE. “It was just so great to me. I was able to learn from it, but also ask questions as I was building my voice.”

There’s Always Next Year became a platform for the authors to write about topics close to their hearts, like New Year’s traditions passed down from their ancestors, George explains.

“The New Year’s traditions of collard greens and cornbread and black-eyed peas, the things we do, there is no -ism or phobia that comes in between the passing down of those traditions,” the author says. “In my real life, that was something that my grandmothers passed down to me.”

But for all of the additional hijinks in the book (like an accidental car theft), writing YA today has also become even more of a priority for the coauthors, particularly in the face of ongoing censorship. Both authors’ books have been the target of book bans; George’s book All Boys Aren’t Blue was the most challenged book of 2024, according to a report by the American Library Association (ALA).

Uplifting Black and LGBTQ+ voices has always been part of the authors’ platforms. Johnson founded Loudmouth Books in her hometown of Indianapolis in response to attacks on books. It was just as important to write one that celebrated its characters in all of their multitudes, she explains, and the rom-com served as the perfect avenue.

“Writing rom-coms is an assertion that not only do we deserve to be here and take up space, but we deserve the experience of loving and being loved, and being taken care of and taking care of each other,” Leah says. “I think we need that at a moment of political upheaval more than we need it in a moment of peace.”

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“It’s allowing those families that we make to help us create whatever our truth is going to be,” she adds. “We don’t have to listen to all the other voices that are telling us all these differing ideas about what it means to be who we are.”

That’s why it was crucial to write characters like Andy and Dominique, who come from an accepting family, and whose queerness was only one aspect of their identities. For George, creating the protagonists felt healing.

“I didn’t get to go to prom with the guy who I wanted to because back in 2003, that was not a thing,” George says. “I was in a Catholic school; I would’ve been expelled. I got to write the story for that version of George, and being able to do so, it was also me talking to my inner child that didn’t get to live this type of happy ending.”

Working on a novel together also became an act of resistance in itself, they add.

“It’s not just about writing books and it’s not just about writing good books — it’s about showing people that the best thing that we can do during these times, these hard, trying times where they’re trying to take our rights away, is to show what community actually looks like and how you show up as a community together.”

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“I believe that kids are worthy of having access to the things that are going to change and save their lives,” Leah says. “I believe wholeheartedly that the work we do is so sacred because it not only gives young people mirrors to reflect their experiences back to them, but also offers them a glimpse of a possible future.”

But at the end of the day, the coauthors keep writing because they want to spread joy too. In their new book, there’s more than enough to go around.

 “Even 24 hours of calamity can still end up in a great day the next day,” George says. “It doesn’t have to be fixed in one day. Some things are going to take time. So yeah, there’s always next year.”

There’s Always Next Year is now available, wherever books are sold.