The Pecan Sheller: Chapters 4–8

by Lupe Ruiz-Flores
Her family's financial woes in late 1930s San Antonio, Texas, force 13-year-old Petra to drop out of school and take a job shelling pecans at a factory. Her future seems bleak until she and her coworkers organize and go 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
15 words 8 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

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.
  3. defiantly
    in a rebellious manner
    Petra stifled a giggle as the pint-sized woman smiled defiantly and thrust a piece of pecan into her mouth.
  4. conspiratorial
    relating to or characteristic of a secret plot or agreement
    “We’re not supposed to eat these, but I do anyway,” she said with a conspiratorial glint in her eye.
  5. engrossed
    giving or marked by complete attention to
    Surrounded by books, she’d get engrossed in whatever she was reading, oblivious to anything happening around her.
  6. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    Surrounded by books, she’d get engrossed in whatever she was reading, oblivious to anything happening around her.
  7. tersely
    in a short and concise manner
    “I’m not here for long,” Petra replied tersely. “I’m going back to school.”
  8. circulation
    free movement or passage
    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.
  11. ballad
    a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
    “Buenos días, Petra,” the owner, Doña Lola, shouted above the Mexican ballads blaring from the radio.
  12. ecstatic
    feeling great rapture or delight
    I’d be as ecstatic as Samuel if I could go back to school, Petra thought. Is that too much to ask?
  13. 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.
  14. dramatic
    suitable to or characteristic of stage performance
    “Quit being so dramatic,” Ofelia said.
  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 Tue May 12 11:58:52 EDT 2026)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.