praise for A Different Plain :
“This wonderful anthology brings together 25 contemporary Nebraska fiction writers and showcases some of the best emerging literary talent available to the reading public.... The Midwest has never been so well represented in contemporary fiction.... This book is a delightful read.”

praise for This is Not the Tropics :
“In this collection, Randolph's stories are set in small towns in Nebraska and brim with timeless truths about love, insecurity, and the glue that holds relationships together. In "What She Knows" an unmarried and pregnant 22-year-old struggles with her options until realizing how much she already loves her unborn son, who she knows will have red hair and freckles, and play trombone "with gusto" in his grade-school band. In "Billy" a long-suffering wife's alcoholic husband dies before she can carry out her brave plan to leave him. Most stories have an obvious main theme and a subtle underlying one, providing an unexpected twist with surprising depth. In "Miss Kielbasa," for example, Randolph depicts a family's harried and hilarious participation in the town's annual drag queen contest; on the periphery lies the daughter's dread of telling her parents that her new boyfriend is black. From the wife who discovers her husband has a gay lover to the accordion player in a polka band, Randolph gets each and every character just right.”

praise for This is Not the Tropics :
“An utterly remarkable debut collection ... offers up a clear-eyed portrait of the Plains, marked by heartache, fear, loneliness and regret ... Quite honestly, this is the finest collection I've seen in years.”

praise for This is Not the Tropics :
“These are stories of compassion and surprising generosity, as characters who have been trapped find escape, who have been lonely find company, and who have endured loss face not sorrow, but transformation.”

praise for This is Not the Tropics :
“Ladette Randolph's stories sink their teeth into the deep Nebraska Midwest the way that Flannery O'Connor tore into the heart of Georgia. There's a wonderfully sly, deadpan sweetness at work here, so that it may take a moment to realize how odd and twisty the stories are. Randolph seems like such a nice, earnestly polite young woman — and then suddenly your wallet is missing and she's driving away in your car! These are beautifully crafty, beguiling stories: witty, wise, and wicked.”