MY DAUGHTER HAS JOINED A CULT: The Cult of the iPod. She’s borrowed my iPod from time to time, and she’s been listening to the audiobook version of Number the Stars, and to the Bangles’ Walk Like an Egyptian, among other things. (This is a big hit with her crowd; I predict a revival of ’80s girl bands.)

Now she wants one for herself, but I’m not so sure. My iPod seems a bit pricey to entrust to a 9-year-old who’ll use it outside of my supervision. So my question for the Cult is, will a 9-year-old be able to handle the non-display interface of an iPod Shuffle, and will the cheap 512MB version hold an entire audiobook?