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About the Books

Mountains of True Peace

My newest book Mountains of True Peace is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, KOBO and Apple in eBook format. It can be purchase in paperback on Amazon currently. Coming in January, I will have books for sale myself at a reduce rate and will sign them for anyone wanting to purchase directly from me. I am hoping to get a hardcover version in the new year as well, but that is a ways down the road.

This book shares about the journey I had in Guatemala some 40 years ago. I was right out of college and wanted to explore the world. Through my good friend Randall Loucks, I was able to learn about Mennonite Central Committee and all the wonderful work they do around the world. I applied to be a volunteer. Randall and I ended up being asked to work together in Guatemala. I finally have gotten around to writing about the experience with great help from my mother and sister, who saved all my letters over the three years I was in Guatemala. My mother filled a five-inch binder with my letters, putting them in plastic sleeves and placing them in chronological order. I hadn’t read those letters in all this time until COVID hit and I pulled them out along with my journals. They provided me with many memories of wonderful and trying times. They gave me a map for sharing about the experience.

This book covers basically the first nine months in Guatemala. There are lots more adventures and crazy experiences to share. Now on to writing the next book and chapters of this wonderful and difficult time in my life, one that I would never trade for anything.

Hopefully you will enjoy and learn a little about the beautiful land I was able to live in and the loving people with such great hearts.

You can order books by clicking on the Buy tab. https://www.mylittlevalentinebook.com/buy-the-book/


More Voices of The Willows

My newest book about The Willows More Voices of The Willows and the Adoption Hub of America is available in both eBook and print version. Go to https://www.mylittlevalentinebook.com/buy-the-book/ to purchase from me or you can purchase at several online sources. In Manhattan you can purchase the book at Claflin Books http://www.claflinbooks.com/.

Fascinating look into the early 20th century world of adoption in Kansas City, Missouri. “More Voices of The Willows” is a follow up to “Mansion on a Hill: The Story of The Willows Maternity Sanitarium and the Adoption Hub of America.” Adoptees and birth mothers share heartwarming and sometimes heart wrenching reunion stories. Ranging from 1908 until 1969, these twenty-two voices express the common threads of needing to know who am I, what is my family background and medical history, fear of hurting adoptive parents’ feelings, and guilt for being forced to give up a baby under difficult circumstances.

One voice is a past Kansas governor who was a Willows baby and wrote about his being chosen by his adoptive parents. Another is an adoptee finding her ninety-year-old biological parents and learning they had eloped after finding out the young woman was pregnant. Upon telling their parents, the young bride was forced to go to The Willows and give up their baby for adoption. Readers will be amazed at the incredible story of a man who was born at The Willows, adopted multiple times, lived at Boys Town, was homeless, and eventually became a merchant marine at sixteen. These are just three of the amazing stories. Additionally, newly discovered information is given about The Willows and other maternity homes that were located in Kansas City in the early to mid-1900s.

Check out Friends of More Voices of The Willows

Thank you to all who sent me selfies with your books. Would love to add your pic. Email at kparr1978@gmail.com or add on my Facebook. https://www.mylittlevalentinebook.com/friends-who-have-shared-photos-of-more-voices-of-the-willows/

Mansion on a Hill 

For the readers of Orphan Train comes the true story of a second wave of humanity that traveled to the Midwest by train. Not well documented in American history, over 100,000 pregnant, unwed young women traveled mostly by train to Kansas City – known as the Adoption Hub of America – in the early- to med-1900s. They would live in one of several maternity facilities before giving birth, signing their babies over for adoption and returning home empty handed and heartbroken. This is the first definitive work written about this piece of history.

The Willows Maternity Sanitarium was known as the “Ritz” or “Waldorf” of the maternity hospitals. It was truly a Mansion on a Hill and one of the largest of such facilities in America. this is the incredible, true story of The Willows and the compassionate, yet savvy business family, who started and operated the seclusion “home” from 1905 until its closing in 1969. With over 35,000 girls passing through its doorway, tales abound of Willows’ children questioning the “who” and “why” as they search for answers to their separation. Changed laws and DNA testing are sparking reunions more and more every day. The second part of the book “Voices of The Willows” includes moving stories of those whose lives were touched and changed forever by The Willows.

I hope you enjoy!


My Little Valentine

My Little Valentine - KelLee Parr

This book is the true story of my mother and grandmother’s journey to find one another. The story is factual and based on my personal experiences, information shared by family members, and hundreds of letters between mother and daughter. Some of the details and storyline are fictional, as I filled in the blanks as best I remembered or expected they happened. By the time I got around to writing their story, both my beloved mother and grandmother were passed on. A few names have been changed to provide anonymity for certain characters and their families.

Wanda June Keller (born February 14, 1925)

Wanda and Leona

Wanda and Leona found each other in 1991 when Wanda was 66 and Leona was 83.


My Teaching Memories

Over the years of my teaching career, so many funny things happened in my classroom that I thought I would never forget. I realized too late that I should have jotted down these memories. Years start to run together and memories begin to fade. This booklet My Teaching Memories I hope will give you a simple way to record your students, events, gifts, and funny little anecdotes that you will want to remember and reflect upon years from now.

May God bless you for being a teacher, one of the best and most difficult professions there is, while probably the least understood or appreciated.

Thank you!