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Sturdiness and lower price would clearly help. But to make e-book readers sell, people have to really want them... or have them forced onto them.
For the latter, converting our schoolkids' textbooks to e-books and requiring the kids to use e-books to access them would get the younger generations used to e-books. Here, sturdiness is more important than price, because at the cost of textbooks, the reader would pay for itself in just a few years (in upper grades, even faster).
For the former, I've suggested before the need for color and more color material available, such as from popular magazines... and for a way to "clip and save" content in customizable folders, like a digital scrapbook. I believe the "e-scrapbook" format would be a legitimate "killer-app" that would make it hard to keep the devices on the shelves, especially for younger people who love to read about and collect snippets from their favorite subjects.
For the e-scrapbook, price will be a non-issue... if kids really want them, they'll actually be willing to work for them (or at least try to be good for a significant period of time to "deserve" one). Sturdiness will be important, but (anecdotal) evidence suggests that kids are more careful with things they earn, as opposed to things they are given... and especially when they contain something they value.
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