Can teenage love last Forever…?

Judy Blume’s 1975 novel of the title asked that question while dealing frankly with teenage sexuality, making it a target of censors and one of the most frequently challenged books of the 1990s.

Now Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends, The Game, Being Mary Jane) has developed the 50-year-old book into a television series for Netflix.

Akil’s reimagined version of Forever… follows “two Black teens exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts,” according to the official logline. The show is set in Los Angeles in 2018; the book was set in New Jersey in or around the time of its publication.

Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. play Keisha and Justin, two high school students and athletes exploring a serious romance that neither may be ready for.

Brock Akil created, executive produces and serves as screenwriter for the series. Blume, Regina King and Reina King also produce. Karen Pittman, Wood Harris, Marvin Winans III, Xosha Roquemore, Niles Fitch, Barry Shabaka Henley, Ali Gallo, Xavier Mills, E’myri Crutchfield, Adriyan Rae, and Paigion Walker are also in the cast.

Brock Akil said in a release issued by Netflix that Forever… is one of her favorite books. “I’ve always credited Judy Blume as part of the seasoning of my voice as a writer. She was one of the first writers I read that dared to be honest about the human condition in young people and you can see traces of her writing style within my own.”