I chose the Huion H610 Pro because it was large and capable enough for a beginner artist, without breaking the bank. The H610 Pro sells for $80USD, has a rechargeable pen stylus with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and has both hotkey buttons and hot cells.
If you were trying to buy a Wacom-brand tablet with those same features, at that size (10in X 6.5in), it would be probably in the $150+ range. For a beginner artist, that's rather pricey, so I recommend going with a Chinese made tablet like the H610 Pro, or the UGEE G5 or even a Monoprice tablet, because the price is much more palatable and you'll get the same features. The only thing you're really sacrificing is a name-brand and depending on what you go with, driver support.
This weekend I've been working with a new tablet that I was sent in, the UGEE G5, and so far I'm in love with it. It has 8GB of on-board memory with drivers pre-loaded into the tablet, a scratch/wear resistant surface, amazing drivers and the pen feels much more comfortable and ergonomic; It even has a toggle eraser button which has made my life so much easier. The tablet itself comes with a dial wheel that can be remapped to do different functions, similar to the type of wheel you'd see on some of the larger Cintiq models by Wacom.
Anyways, if you're not looking to break the bank but still have something capable enough to limit you only by your skill, I recommend these:
Monoprice 10x6.25 Pen Tablet $60 USD
It, in the end will all come down to what you want, and how you want to use it, etc. I'd say that the strongest recommendation I can give for something that isn't Wacom is, right now the UGEE if you can budget it. You can't go wrong with Monoprice though, just keep in mind that they are a wholesale company, so your mileage may vary with them support wise, but for the most part their tablets get really good reviews.
They all use UC Logic digitizers though.
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-6-25-inch-Graphic-Drawing-Tablet/dp/B00H4LAF9O/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=1SEPTYLG4C3X8&keywords=monoprice+tablet&qid=1641213355&sprefix=monoprice+ta%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-3 this is one I’ve personally used for years when I drew on pc. Works fine but from what I remember the driver installation was rather tricky and I had to download a different one. Huion also has a variety of tablets under 50 bucks.
I have doubts you’ll find a screen tablet for that cheap but plenty of screenless options, which I don’t find to be a super difficult transition. Much better than going without!
Sorry that happened to her and it’s a really nice gesture to use your own gift card! Hope you can find something!
Get the Intuos for best driver support and build quality, but the Huion and Monoprice are decent and more than twice as big as the Intuos.
This is a list of drawing and painting software, most people swear by Manga Studio and it goes for as low as $15 on sale every few months. I don't like it personally.