From our justice system to immigration, our authors have been working within and on behalf of progressive communities agitating for change in our world. Here's a sampling of their many conversations this past week:

David Chura's book I Don't Wish Nobody To Have a Life Like Mine brings attention to the lives of kids in adult lockup through a thoughtful piece from Sam Roberts in the New York Times.

In response to a recent New York Times article on the inherent racial biases in police killings, Jason Marsh, co-editor of Are We Born Racist?, remains optimistic in an article he wrote for Greater Good. "New York State's recognition of the problem," he says, "is certainly an important step forward."

Bruce Rich's interview with Religion Dispatches ran on the website for the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity. Rich, the author of To Uphold the World, discusses "the overarching challenge of our age" when he states that "a global world system and a global economy require a global ethic."

John Buehrens, coauthor of A House for Hope, writes openly and warmly about a "liberal religious renaissance" in a guest blog post for Washington Post's "Political Bookworm." In the blog, Buehrens states, "Conservatives in religion too often operate out of lesser rules, and out of cultural stereo-types of what constitutes a loving family. Too often they seem to pander to the fear of change. And for the past 30 years they have had the loudest religious voice in America."

Carole Joffe, author of Dispatches from the Abortion Wars, appeared on KPFA's "Against the Grain" to examine the role women's sexuality plays in American society.

In a fascinating article in The Washington Post on the aging baby boomer generation, Fred Pearce covers the idea of the retirement age, an older workforce, and the inspiration of a lively 108-year-old Japanese woman named Ushi Okushima. A quote from his book, The Coming Population Crash, can be seen over on Grist. The Guardian reported on Pearce's appearance at the 2010 Hay festival.

The Willamette Week welcomed a look into the lives of the Hispanic teenagers at the heart of Steve Wilson's debut book, The Boys from Little Mexico: "what this book offers is an actual human face on immigration and the people affected by it." Oregon Magazine applauded Steve's "riveting sports writing coupled with a compassion for his subjects' lives." 

While tensions continue to rise on the Arizona-Mexico border, the Tucson Weekly advises readers to add The Death of Josseline to their summer reading lists, calling Margaret Regan's work "heartbreaking and infuriating and uplifting, all at the same time." Be sure to also catch Regan's discussion of immigration on New American Media.