Reviews

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"This gripping coming-of-age story combines vibrant local color with a backdrop of timeless and universal themes. The young adults I teach will be sure to enjoy this book-a good read that carries a punch."
-Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D., Prof. of English Education and Dir. of Boise State

"As our nation's urban population grows, I feel the gap in understanding rural problems also widens. Realizing our youth are our tomorrow, I was excited to read Jan Young's The Orange Slipknot. Her story, directed to young readers, brings 'country life' alive."
-Milly Hunt Porter, editor of Think Harmony with Horses by Ray Hunt

"This is an exciting story of cattle ranching in the Great Basin of the western United States. Here, modern ranching techniques and practices mix with old Spanish vaquero tradition.…Author Jan Young fills her story with details of ranching life ... four-wheelers, horses, rifles, and wildlife. With a fourteen page glossary of Ranching Terms & Cowboy Slang and a comprehensive study guide, the book could be a useful tool for classroom instruction."
-Larry Neitzert, Reviewer, ForeWord Magazine

Real-life ranch reading: A book for ranch kids - and kids who wonder what it's like.
By Melissa Davlin
Times-News writer
Want to shake up your kids' reading list with a rough and rowdy book that will actually keep their attention? Consider "The Orange Slipknot," a new piece of fiction by Winnemucca, Nev., author Jan Young.

Young tells the story of 12-year-old Ben, a boy who lives on a ranch near Elko, Nev. When a prank backfires, Ben learns to take responsibility for his actions and tries to save his dad's job.
The descriptions of modern ranch life pull the reader in as much as the conflict. Ben has to get up early, take care of the horses and help recover lost cattle in the mountains.
Young's depiction of hard-working ranch children is accurate, said Carey Hurd, manager of the Y-3 Ranch in Jackpot, Nev.
"My kids are 6, 9 and 12 and they got chores, you know. They got to feed horses," he said.
The hard work, Hurd said, gives them an unusually deep respect for material possessions for their ages.
"They know that it takes some work to get what they have," he said.
In the book, Ben is also trusted with adult responsibilities like driving and owning a gun. Hurd lets his children do the same, saying he would give a gun to his 12-year-old son sooner than to a cocky 25-year-old.
"Just depends on how mature the 12-year-oldis," he said.
Letting children drive tractors and trucks on dirt roads doesn't pose a safety issue like it would in the city, Hurd said.
"It's just gravel roads," he said. "There's nobody out for a long ways."
Young's book brings up other issues that affect ranch life, such as gophers tearing up fields. Ben earns money by trapping gophers for his neighbors, saving their alfalfa fields from destruction.
Here too, "The Orange Slipknot" is on target.
Hurd said gophers, ground squirrels and rabbits cause problems on a lot of ranches in northern Nevada.
"Rabbits are really bad about eating the bottom of the haystacks in the winter," he said. To solve the problem, Hurd lets his children shoot the animals. The family also floods out gophers.
The children's novel glorifies the tough, dirty lives of ranchers and their families. It will resonate with children who live in the country - and with city kids who are interested in working with horses.
Young paints a vivid picture of Ben's family's life on the ranch and does a fine job explaining some tough issues, like why horses with broken legs have to be euthanized and why gophers are dangerous for farmers trying to make a living.
Susan Guinn, whose children take care of their horses at their home outside Buhl, said the book seems like it could draw city children to the country.
"City kids just have an awe about horses," she said.
The book might be a little intimidating for young readers who have no experience with livestock, however - the cowboy lingo peppered throughout the story is foreign to most city slickers. A glossary in the back explains words like "riata"and "snaffle," but the words pop up often enough to potentially alienate some children.
But for a true-to-life, gritty depiction of living on a ranch, "The Orange Slipknot" lassos its target audience - children passionate about country life.
-Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho