Ruiz-Flores, Lupe. Pecan Sheller, The. Lerner, 04/2025. 256pp. Fiction. Trade $19.99. 979-8765610527. GRADES 5–8. OUTSTANDING.
Life in Texas in 1937 is tough for Petra, a Mexican American girl, whose family faces financial hardship after the death of her father. An excellent student, the thirteen-year-old’s dreams of graduating are quashed when her stepmother tells her she must leave school to work at a pecan shelling factory. The conflict between the two well-drawn characters intensifies as Petra joins other workers to protest for better pay and safer working conditions, an action her stepmother feels places Petra in danger and the family at risk. Petra is a sympathetic, believable young teen whose nuanced relationships with former school friends, fellow factory workers, and family members add interest to the story. Divided into short chapters and written in a straightforward style, the book provides a fascinating window into a seminal event in the fight for worker rights, with endnotes providing information about the actual six-week pecan sheller strike of 1937, and the ground-breaking Fair Labor Standards Act that set a minimum wage. Recommended for students interested in historical fiction and for middle school book groups.
Jenny Andrus—Independent