My 9 year old daughter loves these shoes.  She is extremely picky about fit/comfort and these are one of the few shoes she will wear that have good support.  Unfortunately after wearing hers for 3 months (admittedly everday) we are having to buy another pair because parts of the sole keep coming off.  We have glued the same part back down twice and now it has come completely off.  I thought we must have just gotten a pair with a manufacturing defect but since another reviewer has had a similar problem I'm assuming it is a design or engineering defect. We're buying them again because it's worth it to avoid the hassle of finding another shoe she will wear (though I imagine we'll be gluing the next set as well) but if other brands or models work for you I'd go in that direction instead. At least they are on sale and I'm not plunking down another $50 3 months later - ouch.