School Library Journal (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Gr 4-6Gertie has suddenly washed up on shore and doesn't know where or who she is. The only reason she knows her name is because it's sewn onto her shirtif it is indeed her shirt. Soon after she meets Kolt, the only other human on the island. Kolt tells Gertie that she is on the island of lost things, and they are both caretakers of those lost things. Kolt begins teaching Gertie the ways of a Keeper when things take a turn for the worst. The enemy of the Keepers shows up and it's up to Gertie to choose which side is the right one. Booy offers a story that explores good, evil, and those gray areas. Readers learn along with Gertie about this new world, which drives the pacing and suspense. VERDICT This appealing and accessible adventure story is a supplemental purchase for larger collections.Rena Gibson, Ralph Ellison Library, Oklahoma City

Kirkus Reviews

A 12-year-old girl gets a very strange job in this new fantasy.Gertie Milk awakens on a peculiar coast suffering amnesia. She determines her name through a label sewn onto her gown but doesn't have long to contemplate it. An encounter with a terrifying creature sends her running until a man who calls himself the Keeper of Lost Things, or Kolt, finds her. Turns out the creature is a gentle example of a species now extinct on Earth…and the island is not quite on Earth. Kolt's explanations are never straightforward, but Gertie is a practical girl who wants answers. Their rapport is quick and witty, their personalities strong and quirky. Gertie learns that she is a Keeper, too. Together, they time travel to return lost items for the good of humankind, as directed by the B.D.B.U., a book containing the knowledge of the world. This is just the start of philosophical discussions that cover time, the value of life, the transformation of death, the importance of progress, and the danger posed by the Losers, a band that's trying to eradicate knowledge. Lest the battle for the fate of humankind get too dire, it's all balanced by fantastic encounters with extraordinary characters, human and not, in the most vivid settings. For all its modern themes, it feels very old-fashioned, with voice reminiscent of mid-20th-century British fantasy that will have readers seeing Gertie and Kolt as white. Their last assignment reveals tantalizing clues about Gertie's past and the war that stranded her on the Skudark, leaving readers waiting breathlessly for the next volume. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Horn Book (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

When twelve-year-old Gertie wakes up on the island of Skuldark, she discovers that her mission is now to travel through time returning missing items to famous people from the past; she also becomes caught in a bizarre battle between good and evil. There's a modicum of offbeat charm, but this fantasy is overstuffed with weird names and tedious explanations while devoid of internal logic.

ALA Booklist (Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Though so much of a set-up volume that it ends before the villain even arrives, Van Booy's first novel for young readers features both an unusually promising not exactly unique emise and a cast replete with delightful scene-stealers. Washed ashore with no knowledge of her identity aside from the "Gertie Milk" embroidered on her nightgown, a child with a large facial birthmark meets Kolt, an excitable gent who tells her that, like him, she is a Keeper of Lost Things, charged with returning historically significant items that have been misplaced down the ages. Along the way, Gertie bonds with Robot Rabbit Boy, an abandoned AI pet with a limited vocabulary ("Dollop! Eggcup!") and a useful ability to shoot laser blasts from its cute button nose. A climactic dustup with Losers, (supposed) villains out to save humanity from itself by making sure that Lost Things stay lost, leads to stunning revelations about Gertie's origins, and also hints of future Keeper business that will leave readers eager to see more of this tumultuous trio in action.