I am in the same situation you are. I have a granddaughter who is interested in sewing. I strongly considered getting her a sewing machine for this Christmas, but she is just now turning seven years of age, so I feel she is a bit young and that I should wait and see if her interests continues. Since your granddaughter is nine, that seems like a good age to me to purchase her a machine. I wonder, though, how much interest does she have? How much experience does she have? It seems to me the answer to these two questions would help guide your selection. The Juki, if she is a complete beginner, and you are not certain of her interest level, seems like too much machine. The Brother CS6000i that someone mentioned is another great choice, but again, is a computerized sewing machine reallly the best choice for a beginner? The Janome Hello Kitty is a sweet machine, but, personally, my problem with this one is that it has an oscillating vertical bobbin. I just don't think vertical bobbins are the best choice; I much prefer the drop-in bobbins. We all know what a turn off bobbin-loading problems can present, so why make life more difficult? SO, I have narrowed my own choices down to three. My criteria was as follows: (1) limited stitch choices, (2) drop-down bobbin and(3) auto-threader -this one would be nice but not necessary. I believe a beginning sewer does not need too many choices. Good skills need to be developed, and many, many stitch choices are not necessary. As explained earlier, the drop-in bobbin is, to me, essential. I really like the needle-threader, but, honestly, sometimes it seems faster for me to just thread the machine myself rather than using this device. I am not certain a child needs this feature. Another feature I am not certain a child needs is the start-stop button. A child might have greater success being limited to foot-peddle use (which, I grant you, can still be used, even on the machines with start-stop button). SO, grandmother to grandmother, what would I buy? Were I to buy something right now, I would probably buy the Brother XM2701 -it has 27 stitches, drop-in bobbin, and auto-threader; my second choice, a tie, would be the Brother Jx2517 -which is ABSOLUTELY just for beginners or the Brother XM1010 (10 stitches). The downside of buying a machine that is so limited is, of course, that if the child LOVES sewing, he or she may need a machine with more features sooner rather than later. Of course, since I am a quilter, and I hope my granddaughter's interest expands to that, the Brother CS60001 will have to remain in contention, even though I still think it is too much machine too soon. As for the Janome Hello Kitty, I love it, and it calls to me, but that is mostly because it is so cute!
I hope you will let us know what you choose to do and why! Good luck!