The Neverending Story

Very good young adult fiction, and thoroughly enjoyable to this adult as well. The pure fantasy of the world inside it is inventive and varied to a wonderful extreme. It does seem that this one book could easily be divided into two, being that there are two great conflicts resolved, one after the other. But the feeling that the book has meandered past it’s natural ending only lasts for a few chapters in the middle, and the plot picks up again. Which normally I would cite as a fault, but even that droopy center is an intentional part of the protagonists development. It’s a great book for storytellers in particular, especially the droopy bit, as it breaks down the individual elements of story in an engaging and imaginative way that won’t be soon forgotten. A small word of warning; the scary parts are actually pretty scary. I read part of this book to a three-year-old friend of mine, and she frequently put her hand on my shoulder to interject a earnest “whoa.”