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Lou Ottens, the inventor who blessed us with the cassette tape, died earlier this month at the age of 94. Thanks to his creation, people around the world have collected their favorite songs as a gift for friends and lovers. A mixtape was one of the coolest things you could give or receive in the 1980s and ‘90s. Though the technology has given way to the online streaming playlist, the idea remains the same: collect your favorite tunes around a theme and share them with people you love.

Thanks to its billing as “Toy Story meets Stranger Things,” my middle grade novel Spark and the League of Ursus (and its sequel) practically demands its own mixtape. I share it with you here.