Miley Cyrus appears on the cover of Teen Vogue when the May 2009 issue hits newsstands on April 14th.

Her television and pop music success earned her a staggering $25 million in 2008, and now Miley Cyrus tells Teen Vogue about extending her reach to the big screen and penning her memoir, Miles to Go.

Miley Cyrus Teen Vogue May 2009

Miley Cyrus is, before all else, just a sixteen-year-old from Franklin, Tennessee, who spends her evenings getting sushi and watching movies with her boyfriend (model-singer Justin Gaston). But, like her spitfire TV character Hannah Montana, Miley always says exactly what’s on her mind. In her interview with Marshall Heyman for Teen Vogue, she offers up opinions on everything fromTwilight (“I’m not a huge Rob Pattinson fan”) to her obsession with Disney animation. Of Alice in Wonderland, she says: “It’s just such a perverted movie. It’s all about Ecstasy. I swear! Look it up online.”

Like a typical teen, Miley is discovering classic American literature such as Catcher in the Rye (“It’s a little long”) and The Outsiders (“The best book ever”); developing crushes on Hollywood heartthrobs like “so adorable” Jude Law and “sexy” Gerard Butler; and singing karaoke with friends. Though in Miley’s case, that means belting out Destiny’s Child covers with the Jonas Brothers: “Joe singing ‘Bootylicious’ was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” she says.

While not immune to insecurity—she covered boyfriend Justin’s eyes during scenes involving Scarlett Johansson in He’s Just Not That Into You—Miley hopes her music can empower her fans. She likes fashion but is quick to note that “you don’t show your personality by what you wear. It’s about how you present yourself, by always having a smile.” Miley was actually a childhood nickname—derived from her “smiley” nature—that stuck.

Such mature observations make the publication of her spring memoir, Miles to Go, natural despite her young age. “People are like, ‘You’re sixteen, why would you write your life story?’” she says. “But in the business I’m in, I have lived a life that some people who are in their sixties haven’t lived. I’ve gone through a lot and seen a lot, but I still have a lot to learn.”

Miley will begin shooting her first dramatic film this summer, a role Nicholas Sparks (author of The Notebook) wrote specifically with her in mind. “I’d like to do something like Revolutionary Road or Garden State next,” Miley muses. “I definitely want to be more challenged.”

Get the inside scoop on Miley’s cover shoot with TEEN VOGUE