Read this when
The Neverending Story
Bastian stole a book to escape his life and the book almost ate him. 📖 Stories can save you, but you still have to come home.
Who it's for
Bastian is a bullied, grieving boy with a father who has withdrawn since his mother's death, and he escapes into a book.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Michael Ende's 1979 German fantasy novel (English translation by Ralph Manheim, 1983) follows Bastian, a troubled boy who takes a mysterious book from a bookshop and begins reading it. The book tells of Atreyu, a young warrior in the realm of Fantastica, sent to find a cure for the ailing Childlike Empress while a formless force called the Nothing consumes the land.
Where to find it
In print (Puffin, Dutton) and at libraries; audiobook editions exist. Not public domain.
Before you start
Heads up: A mother's death and grief.
Age: Ages 9+
If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds
