Lorraine Rominger

“The cadence of Rominger’s narrative style is soundly evocative of the world she brings to life in The Rangity Tango Kids. Growing up on a California farm riding horses and motorcycles, Rominger figured out where her heart was. The rich story of how to be a great family, to overcome challenges together, and to win in the end is one you won’t want to miss.”—ROBERT REDFORD

“From the ground it looks like a falcon flies in circles. It actually rises flying over the same territory to a new, higher level. Rominger’s life and charming book are like this. She was born to a traditional, religious, farm family with the kind of old-fashioned values and principles politicians rant about and rarely practice. Lorraine’s story melds the best of true conservatism, neither Right nor Left, with a huge human heart. I loved this book.” —PETER COYOTE

The Rangity Tango Kids is the story of a fifth-generation, German Catholic farm family in 1950s and 1960s California, narrated by the eldest of 17 grandchildren. Born into a loving, hard-working, highly competitive family, and united by a strong faith, every day was an adventure growing up on a bucolic American farm, a way of life that is rapidly disappearing. The land provided her, her siblings and cousins with a sense of place, an upbringing steeped in rituals and traditions that was in stark contrast with the values and preoccupations of the outside world.

When the Rangity Tango Kids’ coming-of-age rebellion ran wild, they were often tangled up in the family’s strict morals and values. Regardless of the situation or conflict, the kids were surrounded by a swarm of loving relatives who put their arms around them and stuck together, no matter what.