Aunt May's funeral was strange, but things get stranger when fourteen-year-old Allie Thomas encounters Pettikin Periwinkle, a gnome with a love of sweets and a penchant for screaming, who is stranded on Earth after the death of its only Gatekeeper. To get Pettikin home, Allie must enlist the help of a powerful, yet unconventional, Guardian and prove to him that she has what it takes to be a Gatekeeper. With three alpacas to guide her, a month's supply of cookies, and zero training, she sets off with Pettikin through three secret realms. But there is a Contractor here working with the evil race of sslorcs to stop her. And on top of that, she just might be falling for the Guardian.