Cohen conveys the passion, persistence and verve of three kids from the Jewish ghetto, who went from the streets of Vilna to fighting the Germans and, eventually, a Kibbutz north of Tel Aviv. Cohen, who first met Ruzka, Abba and Vitka on a family trip to Israel in 1977, has fashioned a suspenseful, riveting story from the tale of their remarkable lives. With sections on ghetto, forest, city and desert. Abba Kovner, who died in 1987, a poet, soldier and public figure in Israel, designed the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv.  (BLT16, $14.95)