James Nakamura is a first-grade teacher reeling from the loss of his younger sister. As he struggles to return to the rhythms of normal life, grief shadows him in unexpected places, from a misplaced cassette tape to quiet moments in the grocery store aisle. Searching for comfort and connection, James finds himself drawn between two women: Allie, a childhood crush who reconnects him to his past, and Shannon, a student teacher whose optimism anchors him to the life he is still trying to build. Brutally honest, infused with dark humor, and steeped in 1990s nostalgia, The Last Mixtape is well suited for book clubs, public libraries, and readers drawn to reflective, emotionally resonant literary fiction.