Pinkie's Turnabout

by Sue Lloyd-Davies

Eleven-year-old Pinkie Starlight is having a not-great summer. Her best friend is off at camp to make pine-cone necklaces or maybe new friends. Pinkie's Great Gran says friends are easier lost than found, but she doesn't always remember her own friends, how to use the remote or that Pinkie isn't her precious daughter who got run over by a car.



When Jack, a snarky stray cat, slips uninvited into the house, GG seems like her old self. Turns out, Jack's not just any cat and has mysterious memories tied to GG's past, more than nine lives, and magical abilities. Pinkie sets her sights on adopting him and must find a way to earn the money to keep him—and his secret. Just when things are starting to fall into place, the bully Pinkie managed to avoid at school shows up where least expected and she makes one mistake after another, jeopardizing her chances to save Jack and GG.

184 pages, Paperback

Published February 10, 2026

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small]

Review to follow

[LitPick Book Reviews]

Pinkie's Turnabout by Sue Lloyd-Davies is a juvenile fiction book about an eleven-year-old girl, a talking cat, and a great-gran with Alzheimer’s disease. Pinkie Starlight thought she was doomed to a bad summer after her best friend will be spending the summer away from her at camp, but a stray cat slowly turns that assumption on its head. Jack (the stray cat) is not an ordinary cat, but rather a cat with memories tied to Pinkie's great-gran's past, and he can talk, though only to certain people. Pinkie is determined to earn the money needed to keep Jack in her great-gran's life, but her new position at her local animal shelter is put into jeopardy when the mentor she is assigned to her is her school bully. Will Pinkie manage to get the money needed to keep Jack with her family and how will she handle being forced to work with her bully?

Opinion:
Pinkie's Turnabout by Sue Lloyd-Davies is a well-written book filled with both magic and mystery, but also with life lessons. While the book itself is fictional, the author does a good job in accurately portraying Alzheimer’s disease and the impact it can have on family, friends, and work. I really liked how the author showed the effect that Pinkie's great-gran's Alzheimer’s disease had on Pinkie and Pinkie's mom, as it was very realistic and kept age appropriate for middle schoolers. I personally feel this book would help pre-teens to understand Alzheimer’s disease some, while also keeping them entertained with the mystery behind the talking cat.

Pinkie made for a great main character with her own unique personality and views of both herself and others. It was those views that I really enjoyed with how the author explored both Pinkie's perspective and her bully's perspective on their personal history. This was not one of those straight forward, the bully is a mean bad guy trope, but instead a fully fleshed out plot line. It helps teach the importance of putting oneself in another's shoes before judging. The fact that Pinkie was, in fact, a bully too really shakes and changes the perspective of both the reader and Pinkie herself, and it forces her to reevaluate her belief of her being a kind person.

The story itself and the mystery behind the talking cat Jack made for an intriguing read that kept me interested from beginning to end as I wanted to understand Jack's connection to Pinkie's great-gran. One thing that made the story so good is that with the exception of the talking cat, the book could almost be read like a non-fiction book with how many of the events are quite realistic. The settings in the book also felt real like Pinkie's home as well as the animal shelter she gets a position at.

Overall, the book made for a great read, and I would love to read more from this author in the future!

[Tara Breuer]

I love reading Pinkies summer experience! This is a cute story on the outside, with a lot of meaning and substance tucked away in the pages. Pinky, a spunky girl with a not-so-traditional family life as she lives with her mom and and older Great Grandmother (GG), struggling with Alzheimers. She finds Jack, a magical talking cat (or maybe Jack finds and chooses her) as her friend leaves for an unplugged camp for the summer, leaving Pinkie alone for the summer. In order to keep Jack, she needs to find a way to pay for his license, which she does at the Animal Shelter. Only to discover Leo works there, he is someone she views as mean and a bully and they do not get along at all.

This is a good cast of characters Not everything is as it first seems: GG is not just and old lady, Jack is not just a talking cat and the bully, Leo, is maybe not a bully. And what about Pinky? Who is she really? This is a book with some good lessons on friendship and responsibility, kindness and understanding, and not only about the being responsible for what you do, but for who you are. Everyone has a secret they are hiding, and some secrets they don't even realize. This starts as a cute fun kids book and slowly weaves in some beautiful, relevant book of lessons, mistakes and fixing what is wrong, that everyone can learn from. Secrets that come and go include a hit and run accident, a notebook and a missing jar of money. This is a great book on not passing judgement and taking the time to find out who someone is, their story and why things are

Despite the serious topics, this is a fun read for upper elementary thru middle school. A good read-aloud or class book with some great lessons and discussions to be had with this book on friendship, aging, responsibility and family. I enjoyed the book, the characters and the humor (Jack is my favorite!) with likable characters (even if they are more then they appear at first) and real situations to learn from and talk about. This is a great school or library book to have on your shelve. There are some extremely good and important lesson in this book, it is much more then just a fun book to read. I throughly enjoyed reading it and it made me think about who I am also.

Great book! Absolutely worth looking reading.

[Susan Banghart]

Eleven-year-old Pinkie Starlight’s life changes the day a smelly, scruffy cat chooses her to take him home. When she tries to give him a bath, he says, “Not on your life.” Not only does Jack talk, but he’s way older than a normal cat and he seems to help Pinkie’s great grandmother GG focus and remember things more clearly. Pinkie’s longing to stop the dementia that’s stealing GG’s brain, so she’s determined to keep Jack. But money is tight and Pinkie’s mom doesn’t see how they can afford him.

Pinkie’s hopes soar when she volunteers at the animal shelter and they begin collecting money for Jack’s license. If only the volunteer she’s partnered with wasn’t her worst enemy, Leo Lynch. Leo torments her in the neighborhood and at school and that doesn’t change at the shelter. Pinkie fears he hates her so much he’ll make her lose her job and Jack’s license money. Then she finds a journal in the shelter parking lot and reads the entries. She's shocked to discover who the author is and realize she isn't the only one feeling bullied.

This is a wonderful, warm-hearted depiction of a child who loves and helps care for a person with Alzheimer’s disease. It’s a delicate handling of a serious subject with a generous dose of humor, much of it generated by the witty cat. Middle grade readers will adore the Starlight family. They’ll cheer as Pinkie finds unexpected friends who help her see the things she needs to change, and cope with the things she can’t.

[Vicky]

Loved this book about family, second chances, forgiveness, Alzheimer’s, and a snarky cat that can talk. Pinkie’s GG lives with her and her mom and has Alzheimer’s. When a stray cat keeps showing up Pinkie finds out Jack, the cat, can talk. What?! But he offers so much help with GG and some wisdom that Pinkie needs to hear. Pinkie tells mom that cats are good for people with Alzheimer’s and can help their memories and make them happier. Mom says they can’t afford Jack, but Pinkie is able to volunteer at the animal shelter which will help. Also working there is Leo, her arch nemesis. As the two work together she finds that he isn’t the bully she thought he was because he thinks she’s the bully and tells her why. As the two work things out, she apologizes. Something happens to make Jack leave, and Pinkie and Leo go to look for him. Will they find him? Will Pinkie be able to keep Jack?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Chrissy]

Pinkie's life is none too easy, and losing her best friend for the summer doesn't help. Her mother and GG need her help, and the town bully seems determined to keep her on her toes. When an unexpected feline visitor brings even more challenges, Pinkie begins to see a few things from a new perspective. Pinkie's Turnabout nicely illustrates how our actions affect those around us, wether we know it or not. From her relationship with the new boy at school to GG's lost best friend, things are exactly what they seem at first glance. The author does a good job of showing us this concept before telling it through GG and Jack wise words. Some plot devices seem slightly too obvious, and Pinkie's missing best friend seems to serve almost no purpose at all to the story. However the relationships in the family and with the volunteers at the animal shelter are solid and well drawn.

[Farah G]

Pinkie Starlight is having a challenging summer, between losing her best friend to summer camp (where Pinky fears she may forget that she is Pinky's best friend, given how many new friendships she might actually be building...), and her great grandmother GG's disturbing onset of memory loss.

But after she encounters Jack, a talking cat, and starts working in the local animal shelter to earn the money to persuade her mother, a single parent, that they can afford to keep Jack, it turns out that Pinkie's summer is about to get way more eventful than she expected...

This is a gorgeous, well rounded, coming of age story with a charmingly relatable protagonist, a bully with unexpected depth, and an irresistibly snarky cat, that offers many things for the reader to love about it.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[C]

Pinkies Turnabout moves at a quick, engaging pace. I appreciated the respectful way Alzheimer’s is addressed from a child’s point of view, and how the story uses something relatable—a cat—as a gentle moral compass for young readers.

I liked that the female main character is imperfect and not always as kind as she believes herself to be. This allows room for meaningful character growth, apologies, and thoughtful moments about how both adults and children respond to disappointment.

While not everything is neatly tied up at the end, the central themes feel resolved in a satisfying way. I would recommend this for readers in the 4th–6th grade range.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title!

[Sally Bosco]

I fell in love with Jack the Cat!
Pinkie’s turnabout is a magical story about a tween girl, Pinkie, who is about to have a horrible summer because her best friend is going away to camp. She’s partly responsible for taking care of her great grandmother who has memory issues. When Jack shows up he’s scruffy and her mom wants to give him to animal control. But there’s something very special about Jack. He talks—but only to certain people. Pinkie is one of them. Her GG is another. Jack and GG form a special relationship, and he helps Pinkie communicate with her GG. Sue Lloyd-Davies writing is superb—crisp and catchy. Middle graders and adults alike will love this book.

[Sheila Mendes]

Pinkie is a force of nature!

I fell in love with this character, Pinkie, as well as the motley crew that supports her, right from the start.
Pinkie's Turnabout is an amazing book for kid's book clubs, libraries and institutions of learning because it deals so beautifully with universal themes that many children and young adults can relate to; aging grandparents, bullying, friendships, forgiveness and finding one's place in society. This book is so much more than just a great yarn about a spunky character and her growing pains. It's a wonderful story that ties together all the angst, beauty and pain that is the human condition, in a way that all children can relate to.

[Tabby Clark]

Pinkie's Turnabout written by Sue Lloyd-Davies is a great book to teach teenagers about caring for family members with Alzheimer's disease, along with some of the struggles that come along with it. This book also has a talking cat relaying stories and secrets, pertaining to her grandmas past. With the cat being a stray, will Pinkie be able to raise enough money to keep him and continuing listening to his secrets?
This book is definitely meant for kids over the age of 10.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[LS Johnson]

i loved pinkie and gran and jack. i loved the whole plot. but this book lost a star (or 2) because of the ending. what? it was too abrupt!

[Jessica Roeder]

An inviting book for young readers who like animals and messy, mistake-making, ultimately good-hearted heroines. Money is tight in Pinkie's house, and the people around her almost all want to help. When work at an animal shelter shows Pinkie her own fallibility, she begins to work hard at friendship, too.