People are abuzz over this sweet same-gender love story that could soon be a book.

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People are abuzz over this sweet same-gender love story that could soon be a book.

If you're a parent who's sick of the damsels-in-distress trope, a new fantasy kids' book is probably right up your alley.

Image by "Maiden Voyage"/Kickstarter.

"Maiden Voyage" begins when Ru inherits her fisherman father's mysterious map. Curious, she sets sail on Captain Freya's boat, and the two fend off pirates and a wicked queen as they conquer the high seas — falling for each other in the process.

Ru and Captain Freya. Image by "Maiden Voyage"/Kickstarter.

The story, aimed at 5- to 10-year-olds, is already creating buzz online, drawing praise from celebrities like George Takei and Sir Ian McKellen for filling an egregious void in kids' lit.

The tale features interracial, same-gender love, which is far too uncommon in children's literature.

"It’s important for young people to feel included, that they have a place in the world and something they can relate to," Jaimee Poipoi, who identifies as Takatāpui (a Māori term used to describe same-gender attraction), said in a statement. She co-authored the book alongside fellow LGBTQ New Zealanders Chaz Harris and Adam Reynolds.

Authors Adam Reynolds, Chaz Harris, and Jaimee Poipoi. Image by "Maiden Voyage"/Kickstarter.

"Maiden Voyage" is the follow-up to Harris and Reynolds' "Promised Land," a love story about a prince and farm boy that went viral last year.

Along with highlighting LGBTQ characters, another inspiration behind "Maiden Voyage" was curbing the gender imbalance so prevalent in children's media.

A 2011 Florida State University study found that of 6,000 picture books published between 1990–2000, no more than 33% of the stories in any given year featured a female character. (Male characters appeared in 100%.)

Changing the way women and girls are portrayed in books was important too, Harris noted: "As with our first book, we wanted to avoid the ‘damsels in distress’ trope and continue being inclusive of people of color who are still hugely underrepresented in children’s books."

"Girls need to grow up knowing they can be a powerful queen, a brave sea captain, or anything else they set their minds to," Harris said.

Farm boy Jack and Prince Leo; Ru and Captain Freya. Image courtesy of "Promised Land"/Kickstarter and "Maiden Voyage"/Kickstarter.

"Maiden Voyage" is currently seeking to raise $28,000 by its fundraising deadline on Nov. 14, 2017.

Once the book is published, supporters can get paperback and e-versions of the tale, as well as coloring sheets of the characters and other neat rewards.

"We invite you to step aboard and join us on this journey to bring a little more kindness and love into the world," the Kickstarter page reads. "Because love is love, and everyone deserves to live happily ever after."

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How do you convince people to vote? A marketing writer shares her attention-getting secrets

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Anne Hebert, a marketing writer living in Austin, TX, jokes that her closest friends think that her hobby is "low-key harassment for social good". She authors a website devoted entirely to People Doing Good Things. She's hosted a yearly canned food drive with up to 150 people stopping by to donate, resulting in hundreds of pounds of donations to take to the food bank for the past decade.

"I try to share info in a positive way that gives people hope and makes them aware of solutions or things they can do to try to make the world a little better," she said.

For now, she's encouraging people through a barrage of persistent, informative, and entertaining emails with one goal in mind: getting people to VOTE. The thing about emailing people and talking about politics, according to Hebert, is to catch their attention—which is how lice got involved.

"When my kids were in elementary school, I was class parent for a year, which meant I had to send the emails to the other parents. As I've learned over the years, a good intro will trick your audience into reading the rest of the email. In fact, another parent told me that my emails always stood out, especially the one that started: 'We need volunteers for the Valentine's Party...oh, and LICE.'"

Hebert isn't working with a specific organization. She is simply trying to motivate others to find ways to plug in to help get out the vote.

Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash

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Clip of Biden comforting the son of a Parkland school shooting victim has Americans in tears

Michelle Kinney/Twitter

Empathy. Compassion. Heart-to-heart human connection. These qualities of leadership may not be flashy or loud, but they speak volumes when we see them in action.

A clip of Joe Biden is going viral because it reminds us what that kind of leadership looks like. The video shows a key moment at a memorial service for Chris Hixon, the athletic director at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018. Hixon had attempted to disarm the gunman who went on a shooting spree at the school, killing 17 people—including Hixon—and injuring 17 more.

Biden asked who Hixon's parents were as the clip begins, and is directed to his right. Hixon's wife introduces herself, and Biden says, "God love you." As he starts to walk away, a voice off-camera says something and Biden immediately turns around. The voice came from Hixon's son, Corey, and the moments that followed are what have people feeling all their feelings.

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Husband-wife pastor team built a network of support across Houston

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Glenda moved to Houston from Ohio just before the pandemic hit. She didn't know that COVID-19-related delays would make it difficult to get her Texas driver's license and apply for unemployment benefits. She quickly found herself in an impossible situation — stranded in a strange place without money for food, gas, or a job to provide what she needed.

Alone, hungry, and scared, Glenda dialed 2-1-1 for help. The person on the other end of the line directed her to the Houston-based nonprofit Bread of Life, founded by St. John's United Methodist pastors Rudy and Juanita Rasmus.

For nearly 30 years, Bread of Life has been at the forefront of HIV/AIDS prevention, eliminating food insecurity, providing permanent housing to formerly homeless individuals and disaster relief.

Glenda sat in her car for 20 minutes outside of the building, trying to muster up the courage to get out and ask for help. She'd never been in this situation before, and she was terrified.

When she finally got out, she encountered Eva Thibaudeau, who happened to be walking down the street at the exact same time. Thibaudeau is the CEO of Temenos CDC, a nonprofit multi-unit housing development also founded by the Rasmuses, with a mission to serve Midtown Houston's homeless population.

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Merriam-Webster's 'Time Traveler' reveals what new words appeared the year you were born

The English language is constantly evolving, and the faster the world changes, the faster our vocabulary changes. Some of us grew up in an age when a "wireless router" would have been assumed to be a power tool, not a way to get your laptop (which wasn't a thing when I was a kid) connected to the internet (which also wasn't a thing when I was a kid, at least not in people's homes).

It's interesting to step back and look at how much has changed just in our own lifetimes, which is why Merriam-Webster's Time Traveler tool is so fun to play with. All you do is choose a year, and it tells you what words first appeared in print that year.

For my birth year, the words "adult-onset diabetes," "playdate," and "ATM" showed up in print for the first time, and yes, that makes me feel ridiculously old.

It's also fun to plug in the years of different people's births to see how their generational differences might impact their perspectives. For example, let's take the birth years of the oldest and youngest members of Congress:

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