Bastian (Barret Oliver) is a lonely boy who loves to read. His mother is dead and his father (Gerald McRaney) is oblivious to his son’s need for quality time. While escaping some bullies, he stumbles into a bookstore. The shopkeeper tells him that the particular book he’s eyeing isn’t for him. Too involved. Bastian “borrows” it anyway, leaving an IOU in it’s place. He heads for school but he’s already late. So he heads up to the school’s spooky attic to read. The story in the book is about a place called Fantasia. Something is destroying it. A hero is needed to save Fantasia. The Child Like Empress (Tami Stronach) selects Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), a warrior from the Plains. As Bastian reads about Atreyu’s adventure, he becomes more involved with the story than he expects.