Praise for Ohio River Valley Girl
Marc Allan, former music critic, Indianapolis Star
"Lori Cates Hand has done what I would have thought
was impossible: She's made me nostalgic for people I've never met and places I've never been. I'm betting you'll have a similar reaction. She's also made me nostalgic for
a lot of music I haven't heard in years, but that's more understandable."
Marilyn Allen, Partner, Allen Literary Agency
"A wonderful read. I was transported back to my own childhood. Loved the journey!"
Larry Sweazy, multiple award-winning author of The Broken Bow
"Lori Cates Hand offers an unvarnished look at growing up in Evansville, Indiana, through the eyes of a neurodivergent girl in a time when the world barely knew what neurodivergent was. Told in short snippets revealing family ties and secrets, I was immediately drawn into the world she inhabited, and I wanted to go there myself. With this book, I did. Highly recommended for readers who love a distinct voice and heartwarming tales of days gone by too soon."
Callie J. Smith, author, the Sacred Grounds novels
"Hand writes with humor, charm, and compassion. Her gorgeous prose drew me back to another time, both in the culture and in my own life.
This is personal narrative
with style."
Online Reviews
"As another child of the 80s who also grew up in the Evansville, this book is like a road trip to my own memories from someone else's perspective. This book is not only an homage to growing up in Southern Indiana, but it also because a great job capturing the spirit of Gen X- the self-deprecating humor and nods to some of my favorite music of the time really sell it for me. Even if you didn't grow up in Evansville, it's a great view into the psyche of those Reagan years. Highly recommended!"
—S. Hert
"What a memorable trip down memory lane! Easy to read, sprinkled with lots of music ventures & references....many people that grew up in that time frame will understand them & remember what they were doing during the same timeframe. Kudos to Lori for first keeping great notes/journals over the years & then having the guts to put in into print for all to read!"
—Keith Haas
"A Gen-X trip down memory lane with a soundtrack included! So many of us have forgotten what high school and college was like. Lori brings it all back like yesterday!"
—Amazon customer
"Lori has done what is nearly impossible. Captured a time and place long forgotten. A time
when young people growing up pre-internet longed to see the bigger world and found it through punk music and through trial and error. This book brought me back. If you are from Evansville, Indiana or from another small town in the 1980s, where you longed to break free and see
what the world had to offer, this book is for you."
—Matt Lantz