I agree, this forum is great! Congrats on your new iPad and welcome around.
To the poster above-
1. I don't believe there are monthly charges, but with the 3G models that might be possible.
2. There is an "official" Apple bookstore, but you can also download several other apps such as Kindle and nook and buy books from them as well.
3. Yes, at most libraries.
4. It should!
5. Yes, she should be able to, but sometimes online games require flash, which the iPad doesn't support. There are apps that offer online game play though, so that should be fine.
6. Yes, absolutely. iBooks is a great app in particular because you can change the fonts and sizes as well as highlight, tap to define, etc. I LOVE using my iPad as a reader.