Andre, a teenager, lives in an industrial town in Brazil near an old aluminum factory. One day, a factory worker, Cristiano, suffers an accident. Asked to go to Cristiano's house to pick up clothes and documents, Andre stumbles on a notebook, and it's here that Araby begins or, rather, transforms. As Andre reads from the journal entries, we are plunged into Cristiano's life, into stories of his wanderings, adventures, and loves.