The Pecan Sheller

Lupe Ruiz-Flores

The Pecan Sheller

Pecan Sheller

In 1930s San Antonio, thirteen-year-old Petra dreams of going to college and becoming a writer.

But with her beloved father dead, two younger siblings to care for, and with a stepmother struggling to make ends meet, Petra has to drop out of school to shell pecans at a factory. Hoping it’s only temporary, she tries not to despair over the grueling work conditions. But after the unhealthy environment leads to tragedy and workers’ already low wages are cut, Petra knows things need to change. She and her coworkers go on strike for higher wages and safer conditions, risking everything they have for the hope of a better future.

Carolrhoda Books

Middle Grade Fiction

Age 10+
256 pp
hc | 178 x 254 mm
Publication: April 2025


Author: Lupe Ruiz-Flores

All rights available, excl. Chinese (simpl. & compl.), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish

  • Well researched and beautifully narrated historical fiction

Awards

  • A Junior Library Guild Selection

“Using short chapters with quick pacing, Ruiz-Flores (Piece by Piece) unveils intimate and well-researched depictions of the Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938 and its impact on Mexican descendants and beyond.”—starred review, Publishers Weekly, 21 January 2025

“A powerful, moving story explores the little-known but important story of the six-week pecan shellers’ strike.”—starred review, Booklist, 21 January 2025

“The story deftly explores the nuances of both Petra’s and Amá’s relationship and traumas, as well as the strength and hope to be found in family and community. A poignantly, beautifully written tale.”—starred review, Kirkus Reviews, 23 December 2024

“Lupe Ruiz-Flores cracks open a time capsule revealing a daunting period in San Antonio’s history and delicate layers of her main character—a young girl who stands to lose everything as she ignites a monumental protest for change.”—Crystal Allen, author of Between Two Brothers, 1 June 2024

“Ruiz-Flores brings 1930s San Antonio and Petra’s coming-of-age journey to life. What results is a story about resourcefulness, resilience, and love.”—Diana López, author of Los Monstruos: Rooster and the Dancing Diablo, 1 June 2024

“Heart-warming and enraging in equal parts, this important American story reveals the power of family, community, and hope.”—Laurie Halse Anderson, New York Times-bestselling author

By the same author and illustrator