Next Door to Xanadu

by Doris Orgel, Dale Payson (Illustrator)

A young girl's wish for a special friend comes true when a new family moves in next door.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens

Library Binding

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Doris Orgel is a children's writer. She was born in Vienna, Austria. As a child, she and her family fled to Yugoslavia and finally the U.S. during the rise of the Nazi party in Europe. She attended Radcliffe College from 1946 too 1948, and graduated cum laude from Barnard College in 1950.

In her career, Ms. Orgel has written and translated several fairy and folk tales, as well as served as a translator for other authors. Prior to her work as a children's writer, Orgel was in magazine and book publishing. Her first original book, Sarah’s Room (1963) was published under the pseudonym Doris Adelberg. It was also republished in England and in Switzerland in German. In 1960, Ms. Orgel received the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for her translation of Willhelm Hauff's Dwarf Long-Nose (1960). Her book The Devil in Vienna (1978) received a Phoenix Award Honor in 1998. Ms. Orgel has also worked as a children’s book reviewer for "The New York Times".

She is married to Dr. Shelley Orgel; has three children: Paul, Laura, and Jeremy; two daughters-in-law: Sharon Lamb and Ling Chen Orgel; three grandchildren: Willy, Jennifer, and Julian; and three granddogs: Woof, Buster, and Otto. She lives in New York City.


For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/doris-orgel

Reviews

[Paula]

Once in a while you read a book that stays with you forever.

I bought this book when I was 9 or 10 years old when it was a selection on the Scholastic list in our Weekly Readers. Something about chubby, friendless Patricia (Fatsy Patsy) Malone and her wish for a best friend appealed to me at the time.

The fact that nearly five decades have passed and I still remember this lonely girl and her new best friend giving her tormenting bully Bill the nickname "Sweet William" along with a card decorated with those same-named flowers just underlines the impact it had on me at a time when I was also a chubby little girl with no friends yet, having just changed schools. I have still never developed a love of Malomars, and I have yet to drink an egg cream, but this book was the first mention I'd ever had that those things existed.

It's a sweet and hopeful story of dealing with bullies and learning the art of developing a true friendship.

I read it numerous times and had saved it for years to share with my kids. I'm not sure they all got a chance to read it before it was destroyed in a fire. I should probably look into getting a new copy.

I'd recommend this to girls aged 7-10.

[Brenda]

This was one of my favorite books in elementary and middle school. I'm sure I read it at least 20 times. I hadn't thought of it in years, so I'm adding it to my Read list to remind myself to look for it at my parents' house!

[Leigh]

A very realistic portrayal of how positively a young, overweight girl can be affected by one true friend.

[tlsf]

This was one of my faves when I was a kid. Just thought of it for some reason

[Jane]

Love Love Love!!! Part of my childhood and in 5 more hours Ill see Dorothy!!!

[Renee]

My 5 star review is because this is the book I read as a kid that started my love of reading. It has a special place in my heart and the story stuck with me. It took some hunting to find a copy of it to reread it but I’m glad I was able to. This was the first book that drew me in and after I read this I always had a book with me. I’ve struggled reading lately and thought it was the right time to reread this book.

[Robyn]

One of my favorite childhood books. Just reread it last week. Still a great story of friendship,

[CLM]

a nice friendship story - I found this in the Mt. Vernon, NY library when visiting my aunt Ruth

[Holly]

Sweet book about finding a best friend, but didn't catch my interest even through to the end.