What are your favorite things about the Fayetteville Public Library?

When I first saw the Fayetteville Public Library I thought it was so awesome. It was bigger than any library I'd ever seen in California. Then when I went inside I was even more amazed. The architecture and everything is so original and interesting. I love how they have a coffee shop right in the library, and the children's room is so neat with all the paintings and couches. I love all the little sitting areas with couches and over-sized chairs. I also like how they display art and new books upstairs in the young adult section.

Why do you support your local library?

Why wouldn't I support my local library? It is a really great place, the library. I don't want to have to go spend $15 on a book at Barnes & Noble. There are so many youth activities at the FPL, like teen open mic night and creative writing classes. They're fun and great opportunities. I've had three poems published in The Wanderer, and I'm only 14! It feels great to have published art and writing, which wouldn't have been possible without the FPL.

What was your favorite childhood book?

I had so many! I'd have to say one was Pinatas Pinatas. It was in Spanish, and I was in a group called Indian Princesses. We had to read a book to our friends, and I didn't know how to read in English so I read Pinatas Pinatas in Spanish.

What is your favorite memory or event attended at the Fayetteville Public Library?

When the 2006 Wanderer magazine came out, my art was on the cover. I was so happy. I couldn't wait to see it. It was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life, not only at the library.

For your fantasy dinner, which four fictional characters would you invite?

I really would have to choose non-fictional characters, because I read more non-fiction books. I'd pick Wladyslaw Szpilman, who wrote The Pianist because I've read so many books about the Holocaust, and it is what interests me most and what I like to read about more than anything. I'd invite Minerva Mirabal from In the Time of the Butterflies because she was a hero in the Dominican Republic, and I'd love to talk to her. I would like to invite Stargirl from the Jerri Spinelli book Stargirl. It was a great book, and she was a very interesting character. I'd also invite Dracula...just because.

What book are you recommending to friends?

Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers. It is Walter Dean Myers memoir of growing up in Harlem. It is such a good book for teens of both genders. It describes how he became a writer and his difficulties being African American, it's a great book.

What are your hobbies?

I love, love, love art! I like going to Art Explosions and doing art. I like volleyball and tennis, and outdoors things. I love to skateboard and listen to music, going to the movies. I love writing, I write a lot of poems. I enjoy most hanging out with my friends, and of course I do like books. Oh, and I really like doing sit-ups. (I know I'm weird.)

What are some of your favorite things about Fayetteville?

Fayetteville reminds me so much of the town I was born in: Laguna Beach, California—only it doesn't have a beach. I love how diverse and artsy it is. It was a big move from Southern California to Arkansas, but I really love Fayetteville. It is not too big, not to small. I love Dickson Street and all the restaurants there. The Walton Arts Center is great and so are all the local bands. There are so many opportunities here.