Let me try to narrow this down a bit and become less confused.

Brands: When I was a kid, Mongoose and Hutch were the stuff. Now as I understand it Mongoose just makes cheap Walmart junk. Is DK now the same way, as I've interpreted some people as saying on this thread?

Sizing: My girl's going to likely grow up to be a peanut - stay away from the 20.5" frames? This really narrows down the options.

Frames: The high tensile frames - I know that they're heavier, but are they less structurally sound than the chromoly? What about frames that are partially hi-tens and partially chromoly?