Banana Bread

This passage is about the tradition Marcus shares with his mother.

Lexile Level: 1000L

Categories: People & Places

It was his favorite holiday tradition going back as far as he could remember. Every year, Marcus set aside a Saturday with his mother, and they baked loaves of banana nut bread for all their neighbors. Even when he was so small that he had to stand on a stool to reach the counter and could only dump measuring cups of flour and sugar into ready bowls, Marcus helped make the neighborhood breads. Now, while his mother had her morning coffee, Marcus turned on the oven so it would be ready. Then he set out all the ingredients in an assembly line: sugar, butter, eggs, flour, chopped walnuts, baking soda, and chocolate chips (for Ms. Beasley). Finally, he got down to mashing twenty-one bananas, three for each loaf. His mother came smiling into the kitchen. "Get the cinnamon and ginger out, Marcus. We're going to change things up this year," she said with a mischievous wink.