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
Kitty and Lara Jean are on the front steps, waiting for Daddy (who’s supposed to take Kitty to school) and Peter. Finally, Peter pulls up in a tan minivan. He calls for Kitty to get in, too, just as Ms. Rothschild comes out of her house and spills her coffee. The girls giggle as they climb in. Josh heads out to his car just then, and Kitty shouts hello at him. Then, Peter asks why the girls were laughing. Lara Jean tells him about Ms. Rothschild, and Peter deems it “sadistic” that they think her spilled coffee is funny. Kitty adores the new word. She readily gives Peter a high five and lets him have the rest of her Korean yogurt drink. Peter loves it and asks Lara Jean to bring him one tomorrow, “for services rendered.” Lara Jean glares at him, but Kitty says she’ll bring him one.
Peter and Lara Jean’s relationship might be pretend, but he’s forming a genuine relationship with Kitty. He’s teaching her fun new words, and in return, Kitty is more than willing to make sure he gets whatever food or drink he wants. And the fact that Peter drove his family’s van, expecting to take Kitty to school in it, shows that he’s taking his relationship with Lara Jean seriously. No matter his reasoning, he realizes that he has to earn Kitty’s approval, or the relationship won’t work.
Themes
