When the last bell rings on weekday afternoons at Brookline High School, most students slam their books shut. They stuff their backpacks full of the things and then haul them off to a music lesson, or to sports practice, or to an after-school job. Twenty BHS students, though, congregate instead in an empty classroom and resume planning how to give books away. Who are these teenagers? Why are they doing this? Meet the Brookline Literacy Partnership, one of the community’s most impressive – and youngest – social justice groups.

Within the first few minutes of my recent conversation with Jim Solomon, the chef-owner of Brookline's The Fireplace restaurant, it is clear he is tightly connected to the community, a very compassionate individual, and—yes—still a hands-on proprietor.

Walking into Healthworks in Coolidge Corner recently, I was bowled over by how tuned in it is to what women really need.

In August of 2010, Coolidge Corner got a new butcher; The Meat House on 1285 Beacon Street. Two long-time friends from Portsmouth, NH, Jason Parent and Justin Rosberg started the business together.

Ask the average adult their thoughts on dance class and they’ll likely remember childhood recitals, rigorous practice, and, unless they went professional, leaving dance altogether as they grew older.