Bastian Balthazar Bux is a shy and bookish boy around 12years old．He is neglected by his father because his father is still mourning the death of his mother who died of an unspecified illness．His school life does not go off smoothly．He is often picked on by some good-for-nothing kids，which leads him to play truant a lot．

It doesn't sound like a fantasy story so far，does it？Fantasy is supposed to take us away from the unpleasantness of life，not to rub our noses in it．But it is just where the fantasy begins．One day，running away from bullies at school，Bastian hides in a bookstore．There he finds a book which appeals to him，and he steals it and takes it home．Bastian becomes fascinated with the book．It drags him in，just as we are dragged into fantasy books．The book he reads is called The Neverending Story．

The story spellbinds Bastian．It tells of a land called Fantastic．Fantastica is sick，and the person most sick is its ruler，the Child-like Empress．The reason for the sickness is a kind of war that is being waged on Fantastica by a force called Nothing．The Empress asks a boy，Atreyu，to help her battle Nothing before it conquers Fantastica．But what of Bastian，sitting hidden away，reading the story from his stolen book？He becomes part of the tale himself．The Empress gives Bastian a vital job to join forces with Atreyu in the struggle against Nothing．

But even though Bastian has now entered the pages of a fantasy fiction book，he has brought his troubles with him．He has problems dealing with the challenges brought by his new life．When the Child-like Empress gives him use of a magic gem called Auryn he abuses it for self-interested ends．To find his True Self he has to learn how．Only that way can he help the Empress，Atreyu and Fantastica and make his way back into the real world from the place he came．

Like Bastian，we sometimes have our troubles．Also like Bastian，we can find ways to solve them with enough commitment．In the The Neverending S