Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family, Responsibility, and Growing Up
Love and Fear
Social Structure, Reputation, and High School
Lies vs. Honesty
Summary
Analysis
It’s the last few days of summer break, and Margot is going to leave for Scotland soon. Margot is driving Lara Jean and Kitty out of the neighborhood when they see Josh run past, training for track. Kitty tells Margot to turn around and invite Josh to join them, but Lara Jean insists it’s a girls’ day. The girls spend the morning at Target and then return home for lunch. Kitty has a swim meet later. Daddy misses the meet because he’s busy delivering a baby, but Kitty wins two first-place ribbons. She doesn’t ask why Josh didn’t come to her meet until they’re in the car on the way home. Lara Jean makes up a story about Josh having to take a last-minute shift at the bookstore.
Margot still hasn’t told Kitty that she broke up with Josh, which is perhaps an attempt to protect Kitty from the heartache of losing someone she loves. Meanwhile, the fact that Daddy is too busy at work to attend Kitty’s swim meet drives home that the girls are mostly on their own and must rely on one another. Lara Jean and Margot make parenting easier for Daddy by stepping into motherly role with Kitty.
Themes
Margot suddenly suggests they get frozen custards, successfully distracting Kitty. Lara Jean argues with Kitty about how much custard she can reasonably eat, and Margot muses that they probably don’t have frozen custard in Scotland. When Lara Jean says Margot can have custard at Thanksgiving, Margot reminds her that she won’t be home until Christmas. Thanksgiving is going to be different this year, since Margot usually does the turkey and the casseroles. Lara Jean doesn’t know how to cook a turkey, and she suddenly feels panicky about not having Margot around. How can they be the Song girls without Margot?
Lara Jean’s idea of family is very specific: it entails her dad and her sisters all living at home and looking out for one another. When Margot goes away to school, Lara Jean is going to have to reevaluate this idea and figure out how to be a good sister and daughter without Margot to lead the way. This illustrates how much Lara Jean looks up to Margot, especially when Lara Jean mentions cooking at Thanksgiving—Margot has, for years, shown Lara Jean what it means to be mature and in control.
Themes
