There are millions of people living outside the culture they were born into. And millions more living and working right beside them, wondering why something keeps getting lost between them. Most of the time, neither one knows what happened. This book is for both of them.

There are millions of people living outside the culture they were born into. And millions more living and working right beside them, wondering why something keeps getting lost between them. Most of the time, neither one knows what happened. This book is for both of them.

Culture is invisible until it collides with someone else’s. And when it does, someone always ends up confused, dismissed, or quietly crossed off a list. Not because anyone meant harm. But because we all walk through the world assuming everyone else is running the same program we are. This is what intercultural communication looks like in real life. Not in textbooks. In offices, classrooms, kitchens, and communities.

Elda Acevedo Estefanía coined the term InterCulturaling to name the intentional act of navigating cultural difference where you live, not where you travel. Part memoir, part cultural inquiry, part personal workbook, this book works on three levels. Real stories that open a window into what it actually feels like to live between cultures every single day. Original insights on cross cultural communication that go beyond what most intercultural literature has explored. And reflection questions at the end of every chapter that invite you to examine your own cultural lens, your assumptions, and your own story.

This is not a book about traveling to other countries. It is a book about what happens when different cultures show up in the same room, the same office, the same classroom, the same neighborhood. The cultural difference you are navigating is probably not happening somewhere exotic. It is happening on an ordinary day.

Whether you live between cultures yourself or love, work, teach, or lead someone who does, this book will change how you see the people around you. You will start to recognize the invisible rules shaping every cross cultural interaction. You will understand why cultural misunderstandings happen even when everyone means well. You will develop your cultural intelligence and have a framework for pausing before you judge. And you will walk away with something rare, the words for what you have been living all along.

Imagine if everyone around you had those same words. Your diverse team at work. Your multicultural family. Your neighbors. Your community. Get this book for yourself and then get it for the people who share your world. Because a world where we finally understand each other across cultures is not a dream. It is something we build one conversation at a time.

From Pura Belpré Honor recipient Angela Cervantes and perfectly timed for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, The Mystery of the Stolen World Cup Trophy follows 12-year-old sleuth Diez Espada on a high-stakes case as he tracks down the tournament’s stolen trophy in time for the championship match.

“Humor, heart, and fútbol… everything a middle grade mystery should be.” –Chris Grabenstein, New York Times-bestselling author of the Lemoncello series

Diez Espada―named after the jersey number of his soccer-obsessed father’s favorite player, Lionel Messi―would rather be chasing clues than soccer balls. When the World Cup trophy disappears at a glitzy party in Miami, he’s suddenly at the center of the most thrilling match of his life―a race to find the trophy before it’s gone for good.

Teaming up with his crush, Rio, and the world-famous Detective Enzo, Diez dives headfirst into a one-night whirlwind of secret tunnels and a squad of suspicious suspects: a spoiled son of a Miami tycoon, a famous sportscaster, and even Rio’s two prankster younger brothers.

The clock is ticking, the suspects are slippery, and the stadium lights are ready to shine. Will Diez find the trophy in time for the World Cup championship match?

Angela Cervantes is the award-winning author of several popular contemporary middle-grade novels including, Lety Out Loud (Scholastic), which was named a Pura Belpré Honor Book by the American Library Association and selected for the Kids Indie Next List; the Frida Kahlo-inspired mystery novel Me, Frida and the Secret of the Peacock Ring (Scholastic), which was named a Junior Library Guild Selection and included in the Texas Bluebonnet Master List; Allie, First at Last, which received a starred review from Kirkus, and Gaby, Lost and Found, named Best Youth Chapter Book by the International Latino Book Awards and a Bank Street College of Education’s Best Book of the Year.  

She also authored two American Girl books including the Girl of The Year Raquel Reyes Saves the Wedding and Maritza: Lead with Your Hear, and the junior novelizations for Disney/Pixar’s animated films Coco and Encanto. Her most recent novels include The Mystery of the Stolen World Cup Trophy (Macmillan), a soccer themed adventure mystery, and The Cursed Moon (Scholastic) which was included in the prestigious Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List for 2024-2025 and won Florida’s Sunshine State Young Readers Award and Kansas’ William Allen White Children’s Reading Award. 

She is also the author of the middle grade fantasy-adventure series Anomalies 53 (HarperCollins). The second installment in the series, Anomalies 53: Dragon Dreams, releases July 28, 2026. Angela is the daughter of a retired middle-school teacher who instilled in her a love of reading and storytelling. When Angela is not writing, she enjoys conducting school visits, traveling, and reading. Angela writes, reads, and dreams from her home in Kansas City.  

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