Bibliographic Information
Title: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Author: Jenny Han
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2670-2
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2014
Book Details
Jacket Design: Lucy Ruth Cummins
Formats: Hardcover
Page Count: 355
Plot Summary
Lara Jean has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead writes each boy a letter about how she feels, seals it, and hides it in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved; five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only.
One day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.
Critical Evaluation
The book has received mixed reviews from real readers, and with good cause. The novel feels “tossed off”, with an immature lead who does not seem to evolve much in the course of the story.
On the other hand, it’s a humorous and fairly safe look into teen, or maybe tween, romance and life.
Reader’s Annotation
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once?
Information about the Author
Jenny Han is the author of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Shug, and the Burn for Burn, cowritten with Siobhan Vivian. She is also the author of the chapter book Clara Lee and The Apple Pie Dream. A former children’s bookseller, she earned her MFA in creative writing at the New School.
Genre
Romance
Booktalking ideas
Is it better to share your emotions, or write them privately?
Should you _ever_ write down something you don’t want read?
Reading Level/Interest Age
Interest Level: moderate
Reading Level: 12 and up
Challenge Issues
None
References
YA Books 