Two Suns in the Sky

Just after Rome is liberated in 1944, 17-year-old Yugoslavian Jewish refugee Adam Bornstein, his mother and young sister are among those offered passage to spend the duration of the war in what will be America's sole refugee camp, in Oswego, N.Y. Despite the barbed-wire fences and the guards, Adam enjoys a romance with an Oswego girl, Christine Cook, who, to be with Adam, surmounts barriers of her own, namely, the prejudices of her father and the warnings of her priest ""to keep the purity of focus of your faith."" Adam and Chris take turns narrating, and Bat-Ami's (Dear Elijah) extensive interviews with Oswego natives and internees pay off in convincing observations. Quotes from these interviews serve as epigraphs for each chapter; unfortunately, this device points up the occasional shortcomings of Bat-Ami's fictional interpretations (e.g., mannered or self-conscious speech). Some readers, too, will find the slow setup hard going. But those who persevere will enjoy the attention paid to an obscure corner of home-front America and will be challenged by the questions Bat-Ami realistically frames about tolerance and its absence. Ages 12-up. (May)