In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, host Jed Doherty welcomes author Angela Cervantes to celebrate her new middle-grade mystery, The Mystery of the Stolen World Cup Trophy.

Angela shares her lifelong love of soccer and mysteries, rooted in her childhood in a Mexican American community in Topeka, Kansas, where soccer wasn't yet a big organized sport. She talks about how the game connected her family and community, bringing both joy and heartbreak, and why she still follows teams like USA, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, England, and Croatia so passionately.

Her novel centers on 12-year-old Diaz Espada, named after the number ten worn by Lionel Messi. Diaz is caught between his soccer-loving dad, a former college player, and his mystery-loving mom, a librarian who raised him on Agatha Christie and classic whodunits. When the World Cup trophy is stolen during a VIP reception in Miami—right as a tropical storm knocks out the lights—Diaz can't resist the case, even when adults tell him to step aside.

Angela weaves in real history about the original World Cup trophy disappearing multiple times, including the famous story of Pickles the dog finding it in 1966, and the later theft in Brazil where the trophy was never recovered. That blend of real soccer lore and twisty mystery is what inspired her book—and she's eager to write more Diaz stories if kids love this one.

The episode also briefly features Darshana Khiani, who shares Building a Dream, her picture book about Thai boys who build a floating soccer pitch, highlighting persistence and creativity in the face of challenges.

The Mystery Of The Stolen World Cup Trophy

Reading With Your Kids Podcast