Maria Reva’s debut novel Endling has landed on the long list for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award, a prize that comes with a 100,000-pound (about C$161,000) payout.

The novel follows a snail scientist in Ukraine who teams up with a pair of sisters to break up the mail-order bride industry in the country before Russia’s invasion throws them all for a loop.

Alongside the Ukraine-born, Vancouver-raised Reva on the 20-book long list, announced on Feb. 17, is Montreal’s Éric Chacour, whose much-lauded debut novel What I Know About You (translated by Pablo Strauss) also made the cut.

Other authors in contention include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Dream Count, Sally Rooney for Intermezzo, Rachel Kushner for Creation Lake and Ocean Vuong for The Emperor of Gladness.

Moving is nerve-racking, even for young children. In The Last Last by Wendy J. Whittingham (Groundwood, 32 pages, hardcover, $22), written for children ages 3-6, a little girl tries to memorize every sensory experience that’s precious about the home in Jamaica she’s leaving, as illustrated with rich colours by Brianna McCarthy.

At first the girl is nervous in her new home, but curiosity takes over, and soon she becomes interested and fascinated by the new (and colourful) world around her.

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Wind, Stop Blowing! by Laura Alary (Skinner House, 32 pages hardcover, $28) shows a young boy who spends his life running from the wind because it disturbs his idea of perfection. When the wind doesn’t listen, his efforts become more extreme until he’s living in isolation. Finally, Benjamin realizes that when the wind (or life) makes a mess of your plans, he should take a breath and sometimes have fun.