Dads and Grads 2008: Gifts Under $50

If they appreciate outstanding print design, stunning photography, and fascinating articles, they'll love a subscription to Wired magazine. Wired isn't a computer magazine (it won't teach you how to upgrade your RAM); it's a magazine about science, art, adventure, online culture, business, philosophy - and bright shiny beautiful gadgets. More magazine subscriptions.

Tell Dad to put a lid on it with a Brixton Castor fedora. The lightweight straw hat is ideal for warmer weather; Dad can wear it with shorts and "mandals" or dress it up with a spiffy seersucker jacket. The Castor comes in several colors and sizes. Prices start at $40. More Brixton hats.

For graduates who are going places, the Lonely Planet travel journal offers 160 lined pages for taking notes, recording deep thoughts, or launching a career as a travel writer. The journal's also got conversion tables, a world time zone map, international dialing codes, funny and inspiring quotes, and a durable transparent plastic outer overlay.

Based on her lauded commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College, this stirring essay by bestselling author Ann Patchett offers hope and inspiration for anyone at a crossroads, whether graduating, changing careers, or transitioning from one life stage to another. With wit and candor, Patchett tells her own story of attending college, graduating, and struggling with the inevitable question, What now? See also: What Color Is Your Parachute?.