A lonely boy named Bastian finds a strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica, a place that can only be saved by a human giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. The Neverending Story hit many of my least-favorites all at once. The journey, it was long, it was wide, it was about an inch deep. I am too old for this book, because I don't deal well with skimming, and skimming is all this book does. I found it incredibly superficial -- but I wish I had an eight year old to read it to.