Bastian's world is the real world, filled with parents, friends, adversaries, nice teachers and bad teachers, home, school, tasks and responsibilities, fears, pains, pleasures and plenty of trials and challenges. At the centre of Bastian's world is Bastian Bux himself, a 12-year-old boy who has recently and tragically lost his mother in an accident. His father, Michael Bux, a busy lawyer who had been separated from Bastian's mother, moves in with him.

His father loves Bastian deeply but is too preoccupied with his own grief and with the responsibilities of working, taking care of the house and being a single parent, to really understand Bastian and his problems. Bastian tries hard to work out his troubles and is helped by his oldest and caring friend, Marley and his smart-alecky friend, Lucas. In school, Bastian has to stand up to two bullies; the strong-but-not-too-smart Connor and the super-cool Fallon. Bastian has plenty of teacher problems too, especially when Mr. Blank, a mean substitute, arrives at school and turns Bastian's life upside down.Bastian has two very special traits. He loves to read and he has a wonderfully active imagination.

When he reads "The Neverending Story" book, he creates with his imagination another world - Fantasia. And he fills it with magical cities, landscapes, fascinating characters and creatures. The Childlike Empress, Xayide, Gmork and Atreyu, among many other characters, are all his inventions. Bastian also creates a battle between good and evil in Fantasia and sends Xayide on a mission to take over the kingdom and rob it of all its beauty and dreams.

Bastian visits Fantasia to find solutions to his real world dilemmas. To escape from the malicious Mr. Blank, for example, or to put off dealing with Connor, Bastian skips class and hides in a utility closet in school to read "The Neverending Story." He also reads the book at home and gets so engrossed in it that he sometimes forgets to do his chores and homework. "The Neverending Story" is a leather-bound book that falls on him from a shelf at Coreander's Curiosities. This is a special bookstore in his neighbourhood that is also jammed with eclectic collectibles and art objects from around the world. The store's wise old owner, Carl Coreander, becomes a friend and mentor to Bastian.