To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

by

Jenny Han

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before makes teaching easy.

Mommy Character Analysis

Lara Jean, Margot, and Kitty’s mother died six years before the novel begins. She was Korean and was extremely close with her daughters. The four of them were the four Song girls; Song was Mommy’s maiden name. Mommy died after falling and hitting her head while mopping. Her death was a traumatic experience for Lara Jean, as she felt young and inadequate—especially since Margot, who was 12 at the time, was the one who found Mommy and then called 911. Lara Jean and Margot talk about Mommy regularly, and Margot in particular often shares advice from Mommy with Lara Jean and Kitty. When it came to gifts, Mommy made a point to get her daughters all the same items, just in different colors. So Lara Jean treasures the vintage hatbox that Mommy gave her—it’s the only gift Lara Jean received that was a single item just for her, and not one of a set.

Mommy Quotes in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

The To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before quotes below are all either spoken by Mommy or refer to Mommy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family, Responsibility, and Growing Up Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2  Quotes

When Margot decided to go to college in Scotland, it felt like a betrayal. Even though I knew it was coming, because of course she was going to go to college somewhere far away. And of course she was going to go to college in Scotland and study anthropology, because she is Margot, the girl with the maps and the travel books and the plans. Of course she would leave us one day.

I’m still mad at her, just a little. Just a teeny-tiny bit. Obviously I know it’s not her fault. But she’s going so far away, and we always said we’d be the Song girls forever.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Mommy
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

I volunteered to bake six dozen cupcakes for Kitty’s PTA bake sale. I did it because Margot’s done it for the past two years. Margot only ever did it because she didn’t want people to think Kitty’s family wasn’t involved enough in PTA. She did brownies both times, but I signed up for cupcakes because I thought they’d be a bigger hit.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Daddy, Mommy
Page Number: 172
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 51 Quotes

Grandma gives me an approving look. “Good girl,” she says, and I feel warm and cozy inside, like how I used to feel after a cup of the Night-Night tea Mommy used to make me when I couldn’t fall asleep at night. Daddy’s made it for me a few times since, but it never tasted the same, and I never had the heart to tell him.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Grandma (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Daddy, Mommy
Page Number: 265
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 60 Quotes

When my mom was alive, every Christmas we’d have what she called a recital party. She’d make tons of food and invite people over one night in December, and Margot and I would wear matching dresses and play Christmas carols on the piano all night. People would drift in and out of the piano room and sing along, and Margot and I would take turns playing. I hated real piano recitals because I was the worst in my age group and Margot was the best. It was humiliating to have to play some easy “Für Elise” while the other kids had already moved on to Liszt. I always hated recital party. I used to beg and beg not to have to play.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Mommy
Related Symbols: The Recital Party
Page Number: 287
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 67 Quotes

I’ve never seen her so happy or so patient. She spends all of Christmas day trying to teach him tricks and taking him outside to pee. Her eyes never stop shining. It makes me wish I was little again and everything could be solved with a Christmas Day puppy.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Mommy, Peter Kavinsky, Jamie Fox-Pickle
Page Number: 331-32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 70 Quotes

“You know what Mommy would always say to me?” She lifts her chin higher. “‘Take care of your sisters.’ So that’s what I did. I’ve always tried to put you and Kitty first. Do you have any idea how hard it was being so far away from you guys? How lonely it was? All I wanted to do was come back home, but I couldn’t, because I have to be strong. I have to be”—she struggles for a breath—“the good example. I can’t be weak. I have to show you guys how to be brave. Because…because Mommy isn’t here to do it.”

Related Characters: Margot Song Covey (speaker), Lara Jean Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Daddy, Mommy, Josh
Page Number: 346
Explanation and Analysis:
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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before PDF

Mommy Quotes in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

The To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before quotes below are all either spoken by Mommy or refer to Mommy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family, Responsibility, and Growing Up Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2  Quotes

When Margot decided to go to college in Scotland, it felt like a betrayal. Even though I knew it was coming, because of course she was going to go to college somewhere far away. And of course she was going to go to college in Scotland and study anthropology, because she is Margot, the girl with the maps and the travel books and the plans. Of course she would leave us one day.

I’m still mad at her, just a little. Just a teeny-tiny bit. Obviously I know it’s not her fault. But she’s going so far away, and we always said we’d be the Song girls forever.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Mommy
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

I volunteered to bake six dozen cupcakes for Kitty’s PTA bake sale. I did it because Margot’s done it for the past two years. Margot only ever did it because she didn’t want people to think Kitty’s family wasn’t involved enough in PTA. She did brownies both times, but I signed up for cupcakes because I thought they’d be a bigger hit.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Daddy, Mommy
Page Number: 172
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 51 Quotes

Grandma gives me an approving look. “Good girl,” she says, and I feel warm and cozy inside, like how I used to feel after a cup of the Night-Night tea Mommy used to make me when I couldn’t fall asleep at night. Daddy’s made it for me a few times since, but it never tasted the same, and I never had the heart to tell him.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Grandma (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Daddy, Mommy
Page Number: 265
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 60 Quotes

When my mom was alive, every Christmas we’d have what she called a recital party. She’d make tons of food and invite people over one night in December, and Margot and I would wear matching dresses and play Christmas carols on the piano all night. People would drift in and out of the piano room and sing along, and Margot and I would take turns playing. I hated real piano recitals because I was the worst in my age group and Margot was the best. It was humiliating to have to play some easy “Für Elise” while the other kids had already moved on to Liszt. I always hated recital party. I used to beg and beg not to have to play.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Mommy
Related Symbols: The Recital Party
Page Number: 287
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 67 Quotes

I’ve never seen her so happy or so patient. She spends all of Christmas day trying to teach him tricks and taking him outside to pee. Her eyes never stop shining. It makes me wish I was little again and everything could be solved with a Christmas Day puppy.

Related Characters: Lara Jean Song Covey (speaker), Margot Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Mommy, Peter Kavinsky, Jamie Fox-Pickle
Page Number: 331-32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 70 Quotes

“You know what Mommy would always say to me?” She lifts her chin higher. “‘Take care of your sisters.’ So that’s what I did. I’ve always tried to put you and Kitty first. Do you have any idea how hard it was being so far away from you guys? How lonely it was? All I wanted to do was come back home, but I couldn’t, because I have to be strong. I have to be”—she struggles for a breath—“the good example. I can’t be weak. I have to show you guys how to be brave. Because…because Mommy isn’t here to do it.”

Related Characters: Margot Song Covey (speaker), Lara Jean Song Covey, Kitty Song Covey, Daddy, Mommy, Josh
Page Number: 346
Explanation and Analysis: