"The Pecan Sheller" by Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Chapters 4–8

Sandy (United States of America)
Thirteen-year-old Petra wanted to finish school and become a writer, but her family's financial woes in late 1930s San Antonio, Texas forced her to drop out and succumb to demoralizing factory work at below poverty-level wages. Her future seemed bleak until she and her coworkers organized and went on strike for better wages and work conditions.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–8, Chapters 9–13, Chapters 14–18, Chapters 19–30
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sanitarium
    a hospital for recuperation or for treating chronic diseases
    “It’s the dust.” Doña Ramoncita picked up a pecan in one hand and a heavy curved needle in the other. “It makes people cough all the time. Some workers have gotten very sick with the infection, even ending up in that sanitarium on Zarzamora Street.”
  2. tuberculosis
    infection transmitted by inhalation or ingestion of bacilli
    Petra had heard about the infection—tuberculosis. It was deadly, and it started in the lungs. Petra could see how breathing in all this dust might cause that kind of illness, or at least make it worse.
  3. conspiratorial
    relating to or characteristic of a secret plot or agreement
    Petra stifled a giggle as the pint-sized woman smiled defiantly and thrust a piece of pecan into her mouth. “We’re not supposed to eat these, but I do anyway,” she said with a conspiratorial glint in her eye.
  4. hostile
    characterized by enmity or ill will
    She didn’t even know these ladies at her table and already they were being hostile to her. It wasn’t her fault that other people had lost their jobs and couldn’t get work.
  5. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    Surrounded by books, she’d get engrossed in whatever she was reading, oblivious to anything happening around her.
  6. tersely
    in a short and concise manner
    “I’m not here for long,” Petra replied tersely. “I’m going back to school.”
    “Yeah, sure,” Consuelo sighed. “That’s what I used to say.”
  7. dismay
    the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles
    By the end of the day, Juan’s roster showed that she, Petra Navarro, had shelled three one-pound cans of pecans. To Petra’s dismay, they were mostly in pieces.
  8. circulation
    free movement or passage
    Lately, her characters were based on some of the people at the factory instead of on her school friends. She wrote about the constant pecan dust and how no one was allowed to open the windows for more air circulation.
  9. gingham
    a woven cotton fabric, typically with a checked pattern
    Amá stared longingly at some blue gingham curtains they passed on the way to the shoe department.
  10. drudgery
    hard, monotonous, routine work
    Of course, on Monday the usual drudgery started again. As students passed Petra on their way to school, she walked the opposite way to work, resentment building in her bones.
  11. tortilla
    thin unleavened pancake made from cornmeal or wheat flour
    While the others were getting ready for church, Amá said, “Petra, why don’t you walk to the molino and buy corn tortillas for breakfast?”
  12. ballad
    a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
    “Buenos días, Petra,” the owner, Doña Lola, shouted above the Mexican ballads blaring from the radio.
  13. ecstatic
    feeling great rapture or delight
    Then Samuel took his shoes out of the box and sniffed them. New shoes. Such a small thing made him so happy.
    I’d be as ecstatic as Samuel if I could go back to school, Petra thought.
  14. painstaking
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    All those painstaking hours of writing—gone. The one thing she could count on was her writing, and now it too was disappearing like her dream of finishing school.
  15. sheaf
    a package of several things tied together
    Two weeks later, Petra arrived at work to find a brand-new sheaf of looseleaf paper and a #2 pencil on her bench space.
Created on Mon Mar 16 21:38:16 EDT 2026 (updated Sun Mar 22 13:57:10 EDT 2026)

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