Memoirs 07-08

Dora Harper, born in Oakland Ca. On November 17, 1989, is a senior currently attending school at Berkeley High. After graduation Dora plans to attend her dream college: Franklin College Switzerland. However, if she somehow does not get accepted, she will attend college somewhere in New England. Dora has traveled to many US states as well as countries overseas (Ghana, Mali, Togo, Amsterdam). Traveling is one of Dora's favorite hobbies, as well as reading. Throughout her childhood Dora guardian was convinced that television was evil, so, to entertain herself, Dora read books. Dora's favorite authors are Octavia Butler and Orson Scott Card. Dora enjoys all different kinds of genres, however, her favorite genre is Science Fiction.

Noah Aitel		Noah Aitel was born in Berkeley, CA, and has lived there his entire life. His passions include reading, writing, and martial arts. He is currently a senior at Berkeley High School, with plans to attend an undetermined college next fall. Although unsure of what he wishes to do in the future, he hopes to be able to continue writing fiction in his spare time. Details of his memoir have been changed to protect the identities of those involved, but really, anyone who knows them won’t have trouble figuring out who’s who. Anyone wishing to send him praise, job offers, or money should contact him at wassname@gmail.com. He appreciates any feedback on his work, and appreciates unearned money even more.
Spencer Alexander		The authoress is a cool person. She was born in Berkeley, but Oakland is her city, and loves the sciences. She’s easily distracted and sometimes feels the urge to doodle and write stories about characters she has created. She loves her dog, Mac, a German short hair pointer --he is awesome and deserves praise. She also likes a bunch of different stuff, talking about stuff, Fiji water, lists, vanilla mochi, peppermints, oranges, game shows, crossword puzzles, video games, the outdoors, her pins, and her family. In the future she hopes to go into science, learn an insane amount of foreign languages, establish the fifty-first state of North Virginia, and live her life to the fullest.
Astrid Anderson		Astrid Anderson was born in San Francisco in 1990. She loves to write music more than anything in the world, but writing stories is her second favorite. She plans to go to New York City for college and study Literature in school and progress her music career outside of school. She would like to point out that although this memoir portrays the College Preparatory School in a fairly negative light, she did love her English teacher, Ms. Steele, very much and learned an incredible amount from her two French teachers and science teacher, Doc. To praise these teachers, however, would have not fit into the "emotional truth" of the memoir. She would also like to comment that she did not personally know most of the students at CPS, so the generalizations she makes about them are just judgments and most likely don’t accurately portray any of them.
Zahra Axinn		Zahra Axinn was born in London, England but moved to Berkeley soon after. She loves to swim, to make pottery, to read and to sing. Over the course of her life, she has read lots and lots of books, many of which serve as inspiration for her writing.
Stephanie Berry		Stephanie was born in San Francisco but raised in Oakland. She has attended Berkeley schools all her life and she's ready to get out of the Bay Area. Being the shyest among all her friends, she enjoys singing, dancing, and acting. Next fall she plans to attend a Cal State somewhere in L.A. with her favorite cousin Alexis. She is striving to become a pediatrician, fashion designer, and/or aspiring actress.
Rashida Birdlong		Rashida Birdlong --born October 29, 1990 --grew up in Berkeley, CA along with her younger sister Raenah. She enjoys traveling and especially loves photography and design. Rashida plans to attend design school in the fall of 2008, and is hopeful of a successful career as a Fashion Designer.
Rosie Blanckenburg		Rosie Blanckenburg (on envelopes addressed to the family it is spelled numerous different ways) can often be found curled up in a squashy armchair with her nose in a book, accompanied by a mug of hot chocolate . . . not to mention a large quantity of sneeze-causing fur balls, thanks to her insane rabbit. Everyday she travels different worlds with characters and go on exciting adventures. Sometimes she imagines that the hills before her are sleeping dragons and wonders what it would be like if that were true. She has lived in the Bay Area all her life, even though she has an accent. (yes, it's true - her mother is an alien from England, and her father had descended from a trumpetboy who was the illegitamate son of a German Duke).
Zach Bolden
Tavio Carr
Dray Christopher		I am from ninth street on the Water Front it is apart of West Berkeley. I love to write because it helps me express myself without hurting anyone. I am kind of a rapper I use to write poetry when I was younger. Some my interests in life are doing good in school, girls, money, respect, sports, family and friends. I plan to keep writing all my life I write because I feel like it will help keep me level head. A lot of the time when I am upset I try to write what has happen that has made me upset, it normally helps keep me cool so I don't explode. My memoir is about my cliques Beast Mobb the rise and fall. I talked about the fights we had during school. I showed how it changed my life for the better. I plan on taking a creative writing class for my major in college to better my writing skills for I would love to be another spike lee film writer and or director.
Grace Coates		Gracie Coates has lived in Berkeley, California all her life. She hopes to continue her post-high school education on the east coast at music school. Gracie’s favorite author to date is Carlos Castaneda, and her favorite of his books is “Journey to Ixtlan”. Gracie’s memoir is about her high school experience and how it has shaped her to be the person she is today.
Victoya Coleman
Gabe Damast
Chloe DeLancie		Chloe De Lancie lives in Berkeley with her dad, and Walnut Creek with her mom. She has two siblings: an older sister named Olivia and a younger brother named Dylan. She attended the East Bay French-American School in Berkeley for nine years, then went on to continue her education at International High School in San Francisco. She transferred to Berkeley High at the beginning of her sophomore year. In her spare time she enjoys playing soccer and reading. Some of her favorite authors include Khaled Hosseini, Dan Brown, and Jodi Piccoult.
Nora Donahue
Katrina Groth		Katrina Groth was born in Oakland, California on October 9, 1990. She has lived in the same house in Berkeley since she was born and has always loved the diverse culture of the city. Since she was three months old, she had a Chinese influence in her life because of family friends. This caused her to develop a love of language and a love for foreign cultures as she learned Mandarin along with English while growing up and experienced Chinese culture. As soon as she was able, she took French in school and began to dream about going to France and living in their culture. Katrina aspires to go into the medical field but to be able to use her language skills in her career. She also wishes to publish a fictional novel later on in her life.
Chris Hansen
Dora Harper		Dora Harper, born in Oakland Ca. On November 17, 1989, is a senior currently attending school at Berkeley High. After graduation Dora plans to attend her dream college: Franklin College Switzerland. However, if she somehow does not get accepted, she will attend college somewhere in New England. Dora has traveled to many US states as well as countries overseas (Ghana, Mali, Togo, Amsterdam). Traveling is one of Dora's favorite hobbies, as well as reading. Throughout her childhood Dora guardian was convinced that television was evil, so, to entertain herself, Dora read books. Dora's favorite authors are Octavia Butler and Orson Scott Card. Dora enjoys all different kinds of genres, however, her favorite genre is Science Fiction.
Katie Henry		Katie Henry is a member of the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Comma Abuse), and in her free time, enjoys psychoanalyzing literary characters and learning utterly useless languages. If you needed to find Katie at 8 on a Thursday night, you could invariably find her in front of a school computer, trying to remember whether “with” is capitalized in newspaper headlines. When playing word association games, she most often equates “rabid, militant fascism” with “girl’s chorus.” Read on to find out why.
Nick Hoeper-Tomich		My name is Nick Hoeper-Tomich. I was born in Berkeley and have lived here all my life. I am an avid cyclist and snowboard frequently during the winter. I have raced mountain bikes for the last four years. My racing experience has given me focus which helps on and off the race course. My writing influence is the world around me. There is so much to see and do that it really inspires me. I plan to attend UC Santa Cruz next year and continue racing bikes in college. My memior is about how I broke my arm snowboarding and how this experience has changed me.
Naomi Jackson
Nadav Kariv		My main interest in life is soccer. I eat, sleep and breathe soccer. However, I do have other interests as well. One of my favorite things to do if I am not playing soccer is poker. I love to play poker because of the mixture of skill and luck involved. The great thing about poker is that you can be the worst player and win, and the best player and lose. Another reason why I love poker is that you need to be able to read people. Reading people is a great skill, and you practice it while playing poker. However, the main reason I love poker is that you can win a lot of money.
Scott Kellert		Hi there, I'm Scott Kellert. I am looking for a single female reader for my memoir. I like a smart reader with a sense of humor, and must love dogs. I enjoy a good pina colada, and long walks in the rain. My favorite books are intense action thrillers. I especially like to curl up with a good Michael Crichton novel on the weekends. I am born an raised in Berkeley California, but plan on attending college somewhere on the east coast. I am especially interested in the wonderful world of mathematics. If you're interested click my link.
Dylan Kennamer		Dylan Kennamer enjoys long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, and chicken tikka masala. He firmly believes "A friend calls you in jail, a really good friend visits you in jail, but your best friend is sitting next to you in the cell saying 'that was awesome." (Based on actual events) Additionally he thinks that more politicians of Winston Churchill's stock should exist. In closing he would like to thank Derrick Comedy, The Whitest Kids U'Know, pmclub, and Hank Moody. And as a helpful reminder to everyone, it's not fair to say brb and then never actually brb.
Nico Kiefer		I write, quite simply, because I enjoy writing. I like coming up with new material and turning it into something that I'm satisfied with. I like the way it feels when i put the thoughts and images that come into my head onto paper. I gather my inspiration from the world around me, and the experiences I've had in that world. I find that there is nothing more interesting than that which reflects the world we all share.
Ethan Kimball
Courtney Knott
Naomi Krupitsky Wernha		Naomi enjoys notebooks and chocolate and airplane tickets to foreign countries. She does not enjoy tomatoes or the feeling when cold air is coming in one tiny spot in her jacket.
Will K		Will K was born in Berkeley, CA and is graduating in Berkeley High School?s class of 2008. After the wonderful years of high school, Will will be attending college in either Boston, Oregon, or Vermont. He hopes to pursue a career in sports journalism, and is currently the esteemed school newspaper?s sports editor. He enjoys skiing, hiking, and other various outdoor activities. Will enjoys listening to all types of music and has played the clarinet since he was in the fourth grade. Look for great things to come in the very anticipated life of William Louis K.
Alina Larson		Alina is a rather extraordinary girl. Making her residence in Berkeley, she enjoys juggling various interests in her spare time and doing her homework to her friend's and family's great exasperation. One day she hopes to be a world-renowned nutcase and philosopher, much like Socrates must have been. Until then she's content to lurk the shadows of her mundane existence and read funny books. Speaking of which, she would like to add that she hopes you'll enjoy her memoir.
David Levine		David is a seventeen year old senior who doesn't really like for his writing to be read, though that shouldn't stop you from reading this if you want to. Just don't randomly come up to him and tell him that you read his story. He'll be confused by that for a long time... In his spare time, he likes to climb things: Trees, buildings, ladders... It doesn't really matter. Just as long as he can climb. He also enjoys going on treasure hunts with pirates and climbing glaciers.Someday, after getting a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, he hopes to move to Boston, mutate his DNA so that he sprouts wings, and learn how to fly. He thinks that that could be pretty fun.
Mariel Lippe		Mariel Lippe was born and raised in Berkeley, California where she lives separately with both her mother and father. She enjoys the subjects of science and art and plans to major in biology while attending college. Mariel plays an array of sports including ultimate frisbee, volleyball, ping pong, and diving. She considers herself to be an exceptionally adept snowboarder and she awaits the ski season with anticipation. She has also played Piano for 10 years.
Amanda Loo		Amanda was born in Berkeley and raised in Kensington. She likes Saturday mornings, crossword puzzles, and coffee, preferably all together. Next year she hopes to attend college where it snows, even though she hates the cold. She is not sure whether she wants to be a rocket scientist or an English major, but she'll have fun filling her general education requirements and trying to find out.
Ben Manlove		Ben Manlove is a natural born wild child. His nicknames range from "Hot Sweaty Manlove" to "Ben 'U Gotta Have Some' Manlove." At 17, Ben is an only child, living in a white privileged home in the North Berkeley Hills. His life revolves around baseball and socializing. He loves the outdoors, especially beaches where on a sunny day he can sit out and catch cosmic rays. Ben participates in many recreational activities as well. From frisbee to drawing Nor-Cal stars, Ben spends a lot of his time with a smile on his face. Ben is a focused individual and will go far one day. But, for now, he remains in Ms. Wilson-Scott's class writing memoirs for audiences to feast on.
Nico Martinucci		Hi! My name is Nico Martinucci, and I'm a senior at Berkeley High! I'm not much of a writer, so this is my first crack at memoirs, and I hope you like it! I'm a musician most of the time. I play mostly clarinet (in two different orchestras), but I also play a little saxophone and a little guitar. Next year, I'm most likely going to be attending University of Washington in Seattle. Enjoy!
Zach McCoy		A stubborn crazy kid raised in Oklahoma. willing to do whatever it takes to be there for the team. Loves his team and the game of football.
Byron Mcgovern		Byron “Danger” McGovern is believed by some to be the greatest memoir writer to ever live. He tries to get straight A’s in every class; but Ms. Wilson is still only giving him a “B." Byron hopes to attend Harvard and study something really prestigious. After he gets rich from his career in the prestigious subject, Byron plans to work as a mechanic. Occasionally, he will leave work to fly his private fighter jet around the world or take a trip on his private cruise ship to Monte Carlo. However, Byron does like to plan for the worst, and if he does not get rich through his prestigious degree, he will turn to a life of crime; probably the most prestigious life of crime ever lived. For now, however, Byron’s only aspiration is to get a better grade in Ms. Wilson’s class.
Bryanna McIntosh		Bryanna McIntosh was born on may 16, 1990. She is the oldest child and has been raised in a single parent household. She has a 15 year old disabled brother and a 5 year old sister. Her mother works a lot and she helps the household when needed.
Terrance Means		Terence means was born on august 25, 1990 in east Oakland at the highland hospital. His birth mother was a drug addict and an alcoholic, So Terence was put up for adoption by the state of California when he was only about 3 weeks of age. He was adopted thereafter by a good mother and father. His father which was loved by a lot of people passed away when Terence was only 3. Growing up all over the bay area from San Francisco to Oakland, Albany, Berkeley and all the way to Richmond, Terence really got to be a “Bay Boy”. One of Terence’s favorite things to do as a hobby, growing up, was art. He loved to paint and design things, paint models, color pictures and such things. He was influenced by just about his whole family. Family members like his mom, uncle, grandmother, cousins, and even his younger brother. He plans to graduate and go to Berkeley community college, and from there he is not sure.
Hannah Michahelles		Hannah enjoys Into the Wild, Jonathan Saffran-Foer, Arrested Development and supporting the local business. She is looking forward to when Dylan Kennamer makes his first million so she can quit work and live off of him for the rest of her life. She understands that he has many people to buy cars for and is willing to share.
Spencer Moody
Mayra Morales
Riva Morton		Riva is pretty much just herself. She's been known to be called crazy, and she would never deny this, except that she probably knows more about mental illnesses than any of her accusers. Riva intends to study psychology in college, and, if she gets in to Hampshire, the concept of thought, itself. Her primary hobby used to be questioning reality, but she's sort of outgrown that over time. Now, she just tries to get everyone else to question it. Riva writes because she doesn't seem to have any alternative. Sometimes, there are just words in your head, and if you don't put them on paper, or at least type them, they'll be there forever. Riva shares her writing because she's determined to change the world. Wish her luck.
Kyler Murlas		Kyler. Berkeley High. Mac & Cheese is my choice of edibles. I like the Kraft and the Annie's - yes I like both. I threaten at six feet two inches, one hundred and eighty pounds - a fit body type. Blond hair, blue eyes. Feet, size eleven and a half sometimes twelve, in mens... I like shoes. They call me "el tiburón" in the pool, and "LSD" on the court. I've been told if one stares into my eyes celestial pools of renewal or abominations yielding the fury of Pelides can be seen. I reside in the temple known as Cee during the fourth hour. Do not seek me; If I wish to be sought you will be found. Surfing.
Kara Murray		My name is Kara and I was born and raised in Oakland, but have attended Berkeley public schools since the 6^th grade. I’ve always enjoyed creative and enjoy the opportunity to do it in a classroom environment. Aside from writing my passion is in social work and I hope to eventually become a teacher or youth counselor and perhaps major in some sort of humanities studies. But don’t quote me on that. My memoir is about dealing with theft when the culprit is close to home.
Sarah Neuhaus		Sarah Neuhaus was born and raised in Berkeley, CA. She enjoys reading, making artwork, and hanging out with her friends. She loves reading murder mysteries the most and her favorite author is Dorothy L. Sayers. Sarah plays softball, soccer, and field hockey and has danced Flamenco since she was five. She loves softball the most and hopes to be able to play in college next year. In her memoir she describes her most difficult softball situation.
Chelsea Nicholas		Chelsea was born and raised in Berkeley and Oakland. She loves giving advice, eating, having deep conversations, making new friends, photography, and writing. The events and experiences throughout her life are what inspire her to write. Her memoir is a tale about a love gone wrong.
Isaac Pasternak		Hi, my name is Isaac Pasternack. I enjoy long conversations, especailly at ungodly hours of the night, when they deep, and emotional. I am a musician and I always write songs about the women in my life. I have been hurt in the past so I am looking for someone who will treat me well and I can in turn treat well. I like long walks through the park ona brisk fall day. I enjoy music of the Independent trade, bands like Black Dice, and Death from above 1979. What I am really looking for is a girl I can talk to.
Nicole Petiet		Nicole Petiet was born in Berkeley and has lived there all her life with her mom and three cats. Two of her favorite activities are skiing and rowing. She has been skiing since before she could walk and rowing for the past four years. She hopes to go to New York next year for college. Nicole wants to major in English and become a writer. Enjoy!
Luisa Popovich
Jamesha Rainey
Gina Rapaport		My name is Gina Rapaport. I’ve lived in Berkeley all of my life, which is something I am really grateful for. I love Berkeley’s diversity and radicalism. Berkeley has really shaped who I am. I recently took up the saxophone and love to paint. Painting is my way of expression, just like writing. I really enjoy my short stories class because it gives me a chance to write creatively. I am glad I get to branch off from the usual analytic essay done in school. My memoir shows how I have grown and matured and realized I am not always right!
Noah Rose		Noah Rose is a very nice boy. Sometimes his hair is long and flowing, but requires far too much attention. Sometimes his hair is short, and then it emphasizes his large facial features. Sometimes his minimal facial hair grows in diagonal lines across his jawline. This would be awesome if it would grow in thicker. Tales of his boyhood are the only things more interesting than his intense, intense amber-brown eyes, eyes that seem to stare into your past and future at the same time.
Rachel Ruggles		Rachel Ruggles has lived in an intimate neighborhood in North Berkeley her entire life. Here, she has developed a keen sense of community and friendship. She has attended a variety of different schools, both public and private, but has found her ultimate niche at Berkeley High. While she loves creative writing, she finds her greatest inspiration through the language of music, and plans to attend Conservatory next year.
Silvie Senauke		Going against the Berkeley values she’s known since birth, Silvie decided not to deviate from the norm when writing her memoir. She does hope, however, that you will find something to connect to and something surprising in her memoir about family and learning to grow up even when you don’t really want to.
Nate Simon		My name is Nate. You should read my memoir. I’m not sure who would actually be reading this, but if its a pedophile please stop at the words go away in all capitals. GO AWAY. For the rest of you, have fun reading this, but don’t set your expectations too high. Enjoy.
John Stevick		My name is John Stevick and I am a rising Senior attending Berkeley high School. I am seventeen years old and my favorite subjects consist of English, Math, and Science. I aspire to be the best in all that I do; I am prolific. I consider myself to be a serious student when it comes to academics, however I must admit that I don't take anything TOO seriously. My main interests are sports and just being around other people. At this point and time I have experienced a magnificent life. And being so, I try to embrace all that is given to a person in life. I truly enjoy life in all its complexities and cultures. At this moment I am attempting a career as an R&B singer. however, if it is not meant to be I will be a mechanical engineer or the president of the United States.
Ben Stolurow		White, male, eighteen, seeking successful career in the literary arts.
Ashley Swihart		Ashley Swihart was born in Berkeley, California and has attended Berkeley schools her whole life. She is a senior at Berkeley High School and loves it. Ashley is a competitive ice skater, and is also part of Dance Productions at BHS. She has three older siblings that she loves dearly and that guide her in the right direction. She is planning on attending UC Santa Barbara next year because she loves the warm weather and is interested in their psychology program. She enjoys hanging out with her best friends because they always know how to have fun together, even when they have a scare of being lost in Tilden. She wrote her memoir on the day her and her best friends got lost in Tilden park, and the wild and crazy adventures that went along with it. For a fun adventure yourself, read Ashley’s essay!
Sharlana Turner		Sharlana is a student at Berkeley High School and is now a senior. She enjoys singing, rapping, poetry, as well as song writing. On her spare time she is at the studio or just living life to the fullest. Writing this memoir has “ helped me develop my writing” she explains. Her inspirations are her grandmother, experiences, and the haters. She is determined and has potential so readers please look out for her next project!
Francesca Villa		Francesca was born in Oakland but she now lives happily in Berkeley. Francesca enjoys lots of things. Some of her favorite activities include: Tennis, hanging out with friends and on Thursdays she enjoys watching her favorite T.V show The Office.
Maxine Wally		Maxine Wally likes long walks on the beach, romantic candle lit dinners, monster truck shows, writing short stories, reading, receiving an education, and having deep conversations with Jasper Hitchen. Food is also a necessary indulgence; hook her up with a lemon meringue pie and she is solid. One day she hopes to speak with Barack Obama and Lil Wayne.
Carolyn Wegner		I’m Carolyn. I’m from California. I love to have absolutely nothing to do on the weekends. I love rainy, foggy weather, being outdoors, and traveling in Scandinavia. I live for sports. I mountain and road bike, but have been out for a year because of a back problem. Now I swim. I went to Saint Mary’s freshman year, but decided to come to Berkeley High for a variety of reasons (I explain in my memoir…). Next year I plan to go to a college on West Coast, and then head to France to become fluent in French during my junior year.
Max Wessell		-Born 9/16/89 12:30 weather lightening storm -Four goes to Grizzly Peak pre-K -Five, Bancroft kinder garden -Six, B.U.S.D will not accept Bancroft as a kinder garden so I have to repeat it -Eight, start taking Paxil -Till seventh I refuse to think about it -Seventh and Eighth see memoir -Ninth about up forthcoming
Ben White		Ben White lives in Berkeley CA with his father and his younger sister. He spends every other weekend in Fairfield, visiting his mother and his step father. He is inspired by James Frey, Sister Souljah, David Henry Sterry and the creativity in the hip hop culture. He strongly believes that “no one is perfect but everyone can do better.” He plans on attending SF state and majoring in psychology. He doesn’t want to give too much away, but here is a brief introduction to his memoir, “The flames eat through my skin with ease, causing my body to go through unbearable agony… The pain causes a piercing scream to escape my lungs which echoes through my ears. I hear demons and their demented laughter. I hear the fire tearing through my tissue. I hear………a baby?”
Leo Wiggins		Leo was born a while back, and is alive to this day. He hopes to see tomorrow, but, as he says, “Tomorrow really only is the yesterday of a week from five days ago, and I never much cared for pickles.” Hopefully, one day in the near future, he will deem himself sane enough to be taken seriously. Until that time, however, he enjoys reading books, writing short stories, writing stories that aren’t as short as stories, but are still pretty short, playing videogames, and cards, and living through music and art.
Rowan Witebsky		Rowan was born in Berkeley, California. Besides her parents, she has one sister, a dog, and a cat. She is interested in art, especially drawing, and writing. Rowan has been learning French at school for four years, as well as taking classes in Japanese since she was in Eight grade. She likes traveling, and would love to visit either country in later life, though she has been to France before. Outside of school, Rowan volunteers as a math tutor, and assists at the Berkeley Animal Shelter. Next year, Rowan is planning to attend college, either at a UC school, or out-of-state.
Jeremy Wong		Jeremy was born with what he describes as a bloody tail with icky fluids pouring out of it --the doctor who delivered him called it an umbilical cord. During his early life, he experienced a pain he couldn't describe --his mother called it love. Jeremy is most often incorrect about the events that surround his life, except for the events written in his memoir. He describes the memoir as a tale in which leads to a slippery slope that finally brings him to the tip of the iceberg. He neglected to tell us that the memoir is about an interlude in his life where he picked up the game of shoplifting. What's important is that he promotes his memoir fully for the enjoyment of being tortured by a sad, yet wholly story.
Thomas Zhu		My name is Hong, who is frequently called Thomas, has already “come” to this world for seventeen years. Well, in my first fourteen years, I spent my lifetime to live in China with my parents. Although I felt confident when I stepped onto this new country three years ago, I did not imagine how difficult for me to learn English. Oops, back to my memoir, I would like talk about my past; but not to write a memoir, because I believe memory should not be put into languages- no matter how true it is.
Anonymous		The author of Red wishes to remain anonymous, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who reads her memoir. Pretend it's a story you read in an anthology of the troubled teen, or something. Pretend the events and settings depicted aren't real, please. Wouldn't life be nicer if none of the hardships faced by characters in stories had any basis in fact? Honestly, Red is largely non-fiction, but my memory isn't perfect, and all people mentioned have had their names changed to protect anonymity. If abortion is an emotionally sensitive or triggering subject, you may wish to find other reading material. There are plenty of happier stories to be found.