The Boy and the Dusty Hat

By Shawn Sims

In a world where the wind has a will of its own, one boy's dusty hat holds the map to a forgotten destiny.

Twelve-year-old Eli Ward lives in the broken town of Windvale, under the cruel hand of his stepfather and the weight of his mother's death. When he discovers an old trunk and a weathered hat that once belonged to his missing father, Eli uncovers something extraordinary - a living map hidden in the hat's lining, pulsing with windlight and ancient magic.

That discovery launches him into a journey across the Iron Dunes, a dangerous, dust-choked frontier where machines run on spirit and the air itself remembers. Pursued by bounty hunters and haunted by the storms his father once unleashed, Eli sets out to uncover the truth about Cassian Ward, the most wanted outlaw - and wind cartographer - the world has ever known.

Together, they chase whispers of the living wind, a power once sealed away by the Skybound Guild and the Storm King's tyranny. But the map in Eli's hat doesn't lead to treasure - it leads to freedom, and to a truth that could change the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 106999572X
• ISBN13: 9781069995728
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Shawn Sims
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 13 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary