Black Water

J. S. Meresmaa

Original title: Sysivesi

Author: J. S. Meresmaa

Illustrator: Elina Äijälä

Published: 2025

Publisher: Karisto

Genre: Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Pages: 154

Part of a series: Monster Manor series

Part #2 of the captivatingly bone-chilling middle-grade horror trilogy

✓ Engaging middle-grade horror, with mystery and heart-pounding adventure!

✓ Captivating and relatable variety of characters

✓ Book #1 (Darkclaw) won the 2024 Tähtipöllö Award and was tied for second place for Kuopus Award 2024!

✓ J. S. Meresmaa is a winner of 2020 & 2023 Kuopus Award, and a nominee in 2023 for Kuvastaja Award and Tähtifantasia Award

✓ Monster Manor series is set in the same Monster-Finland world as the Monster Care series!  Children start with Monster Care and grow into Monster Manor for more adventures in a familiar world.

Fear always has friends.

Aapo has started working at the Monster Manor, home to many types of monsters. When a sickly and foul-smelling mud creature needs help, he sets out on his first monster hunt with his new friends.

Aapo’s mind, however, is haunted by the blackdread’s attack that left a nasty scratch mark on his chest. Nobody knows what the blackdread’s claws might do to a human. Aapo’s mysterious colleague Usva is also an enigma. Many things about Usva and Monster Manor remind Aapo of his recently deceased grandfather. How are all these things connected? It feels as if darkness is spreading around Aapo…

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Rights sold:
FINLAND: Karisto (orig.)

About author

J. S. Meresmaa

J. S. Meresmaa (b. 1983, she/they) is an award-winning Finnish author who mainly writes fantasy and other speculative fiction. This versatile storyteller’s works have been nominated for several literature prizes, and they have gotten glowing reviews from critics and readers alike.

Meresmaa’s backlist includes the epic fantasy series Mifonki, two short story collections, two YA novella trilogies, a vampire duology and verse novels, to name a few. She has also written children's books, the most recent being Hirviöhoitola series (The Little Monster Rescue). Her latest YA fantasy novel is titled Tytär hämärän, piika pimeän (The Daughter of Dusk, the Maid of Darkness), and it combines Finnish folklore and clockpunk. It is the first book in Rauniara duology.

Many of her short stories have been translated into languages other than Finnish. Meresmaa’s YA verse novel Dodo won the Blogistania Kuopus Award and was nominated for the best YA novel in 2020 (Topelius Prize). Mifonki series received a Kuvastaja Honorary Mention in 2021.

Bibliography


2025, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

J. S. Meresmaa

Monster Care #4: The Wily Water Devil


2025, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

J. S. Meresmaa

Black Water


2024, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

J. S. Meresmaa

Darkclaw


2024, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

J. S. Meresmaa

Monster Care #3: The Horrific Hellcat


2023, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

J. S. Meresmaa

Monster Care #2: The Shiny Skeletonbird


2023, Chapter Books (6-9 Years)

J. S. Meresmaa

Monster Care #1: The Manor Misfits