Leah Johnson’s Indianapolis Roots Shaped a Queer Young-Adult Writing Career

Leah Johnson’s path to published fiction began in Indianapolis, where she was raised on the city’s west side. Her early interests combined reading with school journalism, athletics and performance: she served as editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper, played tennis, and participated in show and concert choirs.

That mix of interests continued into college. At Indiana University Bloomington, Johnson interned with the Wall Street Journal, WFIU and WPLN. She later earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College, where she began developing the manuscript that became her first novel.

Published in 2020, You Should See in a Crown follows a Black queer teenager who runs for prom queen in an effort to win a college scholarship. The novel’s focus on a queer protagonist places LGBTQ identity at the center of a coming-of-age story shaped by school, ambition and the pressures surrounding a major opportunity. The book received critical acclaim and was recognized with a Stonewall Book Award Honor.

Johnson’s debut also grew out of her writing about representation in young-adult literature. Before the novel was published, she wrote an essay for Electric Literature about the lack of diverse YA books. That essay led editor Sarah Landis to contact her and assist with developing a book proposal, helping move the project from a graduate-school manuscript toward publication.

Johnson has since published two additional books. Rise to the Sun appeared in 2021, followed by the children’s novel Ellie Engle Saves Herself! in 2023. Together, the books established a body of work spanning young-adult and children’s fiction after her Indianapolis upbringing and graduate study.

For Indianapolis readers, Johnson’s career offers a local connection to a broader conversation about LGBTQ representation in books for younger audiences. Her first novel links that representation to a distinctly recognizable school experience, while her professional history also reflects the role of student journalism and local media training in the development of a writer’s career. Her work gives readers a way to encounter queer characters in stories about education, aspiration and growing up, while her own biography connects a nationally recognized literary career to the west side of Indianapolis.

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Further links listed by the Wikipedia page (not independently checked): - https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/arts/2020/07/05/indianapolis-native-leah-johnson-talks-you-should-see-me-crown/3267577001/ - https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2021/02/14/966493175/author-leah-johnson-on-being-young-black-queer-and-in-love - https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/arts-and-culture/qa-with-y-a-sensation-leah-johnson - https://diversebooks.org/qa-with-leah-johnson-you-should-see-me-in-a-crown/ - https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/83707-spring-2020-flying-starts-leah-johnson.html - https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/local-author-leah-johnsons-book-you-should-see-me-in-a-crown-becomes-first-ya-pick-for-reese-witherspoons-book-club Image rights Photograph description: 24 June 2021 - Indianapolis, IN - US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh speaks to LGBTQ Community Leaders at Baby's restaurant in Indianapolis, Indiana. Official Department of Labor Photograph*** Photographs taken by the federal government are generally part of the public domain and may beused, copied and distributed without permission. Unless otherwise noted, photos posted here may be used without th Creator: US Department of Labor. License: CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0). Original image page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AL-21-06-24-A-006_(51268561483).jpg. The image was resized for display; no other changes were made.