Quote from a critics

“The Cursed Treasure” is a fascinatingly written adventure story. It includes an exciting, sometimes even a little dangerous treasure hunt, as well as the challenges of the young people's personal lives, including relationships with family and friends. The characters' diary entries and messages from group conversations between the young people add variety to the reading. The description of local traditions and living conditions in Saaremaa and the use of the Sõrve dialect add added value.

-        Tartu Children's Literature Award Committee*

* The Tartu Children's Literature Prize Jury selected the nominees from 141 books published in 2024. According to jury chairwoman Helena Koch, this year's nominees are united by themes such as intergenerational relationships, nature conservation, and the bold use of Estonian dialects.

Sample

    Kirsika was bouncing up and down, punching the air like an athlete who had just broken a record.
    “Where?! Where are you?!”

    Alka and Erni had both leapt to their feet, staring anxiously at Kirsika.

    “I’m coming!” the girl shouted. “Wait for me! I’m coming right now!”

    The pitchfork flew who knows where, and Kirsika sprinted toward the Leigar house.

    “Go after her!” Alka yelled.

    Erni was already running. Alka frowned at how slow he was compared to the girl, then dashed after them herself.

    “All set,” Robin whispered.

    Robin and Säde exchanged a quick glance, then darted toward the little house, heads low. Once they reached the now-familiar bush, they looked around nervously. No one was in sight. Robin nodded calmly and raised two fingers. Stage two of their plan was in motion. Tasks had been divided, tricks rehearsed, and all the necessary tools were with them. They crept along the side of the house.

    “Let’s do this.”

    Robin headed straight for the white, crumpled summer jacket lying on the terrace chair, slipped the car keys from Alka’s pocket, and dashed toward the guesthouse parking lot.

    Säde had already entered the washroom. There, she took a fine-tipped grey marker from her pocket, crouched above the toilet paper roll, and drew a modest little spider on the fourth sheet. “Pretty,” she murmured, rolled the paper forward a little, and drew another just like it on the edge of the eighth sheet. Then she fished from her pocket half of a chicken stock cube, unscrewed the perforated head of the shower mixer, pressed the cube against the opening of the hose, and screwed the mixer back on.

    The stock-cube prank was somewhat similar to her lollipop trick — but pranks, after all, always shared a certain likeness.

    “All set.”

    Next, she took from her pocket a round piece of clear plastic she had cut from a cover sheet. She twisted the cap off the shampoo bottle, placed the plastic circle over the opening, and screwed the cap back on.

    “Three.”

    Säde paused for a moment, listening, then continued.

    To her delight, Alka used a toothbrush with batteries. That opportunity could not be ignored. In a flash, Säde clicked the batteries out into her palm and set the toothbrush neatly back in place. Nothing criminal about it — just a harmless little test of nerves. She placed the batteries on the shelf beside the mirror, roughly at Alka’s eye level.

    “Four.”

    Finally — the cherry on top — Säde hung Erni’s bathrobe on Alka’s hook, Alka’s bathrobe on Erni’s, and pushed each sleeve deep into the robe’s pocket.

    Her reflection in the mirror smiled back at her brightly.
    “Five.”

Reading materials

✓ Sample of one chapter in English & synopsis

✓ Estonian edition

✓ ELK Fair Catalogue (CHILDREN’S BOOKS FROM ESTONIA 2025)

https://elk.ee/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ELK-kataloog_2025.pdf

✓ For more information or copyrights, please contact: maasikjana@gmail.com