Although Gina Chung's Green Frog nimbly encompasses multiple genres, fraught parental relationships unite many of the impressive collection's 15 stories. Charged sibling comparisons are often at play, too. In both "The Sound of Water" and the titular story, one sibling is favored over another, wreaking havoc on the latter's self-esteem. The less-favored child abandons their future plans--in both stories, dropping out of college--to return home for a dying or aging parent and help with the family business.
"Human Hearts" centers on a young kumiho--a nine-tailed fox from Korean folklore--and also encompasses these themes. To appease her demanding mother, plain Okja must avenge her better-loved, beautiful twin sister's death from a poisoned snare set by the shaman's son. Chung (Sea Change) masterfully balances sentiment and compassion, careful never to tip into a maudlin tone.
In the eerily speculative "Attachment Processes," one of the most moving stories of the collection, a mother has a second chance at raising her daughter. Chung writes: "And what is a family but a group of people who agree to believe in these revisions together, to pretend that they do not see the small cracks and fissures where the stories do not quite align?" The stilted, synthetic result of the do-over motherhood is forlorn and haunting.
Transformation suffuses this collection. Sometimes it's overt and physical, as in "Human Hearts" and in "Honey and Sun." At other times it's more subtle and internal, such as in "Presence" and "The Arrow." Chung's ability to capture these moments allows light into heavy stories--and maybe even glimpses of hope. --Nina Semczuk, writer, editor, and illustrator