Green Frog

Vintage
Published March 12, 2024
On Sale Now

Picador
UK - June 6, 2024 
On Sale Now

A short story collection that explores Korean American womanhood, bodies, animals, and transformation as a means of survival. ​Equal parts fantastical—a pair of talking dolls help twins escape a stifling home, a heart boils on the stove as part of an elaborate cure for melancholy, a fox demon contemplates avenging her sister’s death—and true to life—a mother and daughter try to heal their rift when the daughter falls unexpectedly pregnant, a woman reexamines her father’s legacy after his death—the stories in this collection are hopeful and heartbreaking, full of danger and full of joy. 

Chung is a master at capturing emotion, and her characters—human and otherwise—will claw their way into your heart and make themselves at home.

Praise and Press for Green Frog

Longlisted for the 2024 New American Voices Award
GMA Book Buzz Pick
A Best Literary Fiction Book of 2024 —Elle
A Most Anticipated Book of 2024 —Elle, Debutiful, The Rumpus, The Millions


“A fantastic medley of short stories that dance between literary fiction, fable, Korean folklore, and science fiction. Wildly entertaining, wonderfully diverse, and always delivered with a superb understanding of pacing and economy of language, the stories in this collection are full of emotional intelligence but also prove Chung isn't afraid to explore what genre mixing can do for short narratives.”
—NPR

Spring 2024 Adult Preview: Literary Fiction —Publishers Weekly

75 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2024 —Electric Literature

​8 of the Best Short Story Collections to Pick Up This Year —Stylist

“Superb. . . Standouts are many, effortlessly ranging from fantastical, futuristic, and slice-of-real-life narratives. . . . Chung proves she’s a vibrant heir to her beloved first storyteller.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“A collection of achingly real but also sometimes unusual stories about survival, change, nature, and womanhood, with a dash of Korean mythology and culture. . . . Great for people who like Bora Chung, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Yōko Ogawa, Carmen Maria Machado, and so many more.”
—Book Riot

“Sprinkled in folkloric wisdom and speculative darkness, Gina Chung’s story collection, Green Frog, humors and haunts with thoughtful precision.”
—Elle

“Imbued with subtle magic, balancing one foot in and one foot out of the ordinary. . . . 
Green Frog glitters and haunts, remaining with you until, slowly, you start to see yourself and your surroundings differently.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Chung’s gift is patiently unraveling ordinary moments in ordinary lives and conveying their significance in translucent prose. Lovely, emotionally resonant stories.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Dynamic . . . Chung’s talents are on full display in these contemplative tales.” 
—Publishers Weekly

“Although Gina Chung's Green Frog nimbly encompasses multiple genres, fraught parental relationships unite many of the impressive collection's 15 stories.”
Shelf Awareness

“Reading Gina Chung’s fiction feels like slipping into a gentle ocean filled with surprising, delightful creatures.”
San Francisco Chronicle

“Moving vignettes of womanhood, mother-daughter relationships, the Korean American experience, grief, family and love. . . . Each story is filled with palpable emotion and melancholy artistry and told with a unique and intimate voice.”
NJ Monthly

“What a tour de force Gina Chung has achieved in Green Frog. I savored every story in this collection—not a weak link in the bunch. Green Frog shimmers with the beauty of Chung’s words and the beauty and comedy and grief of being alive.”
Soapberry Review

“Gina Chung writes with great heart and daring. Her stories reach for new ways of framing the Korean-American experience, laying claim to all genre or style that serves her purpose. Quite literally spanning the cerebral to the visceral, this is a collection that refuses to acknowledge the limits of immigrant fiction.”
Yoon Choi, author of Skinship

“Gina Chung’s Green Frog is remarkable. The stories hit, each one, and land with such seeming perfection. Chung’s book sits next to my all-time favorite story collections by masters of the craft: Karen Russell, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, George Saunders, and Ted Chiang. This book does not disappoint—it defies gravity in such a way that it takes your breath away, like it lifts you up and up and up past the clouds and into space. There is so much raw power and emotion in these stories that after finishing each one, I felt more and more alive. Green Frog is an unforgettable dream.”
Morgan Talty, award-winning author of Night of the Living Rez

“With Green Frog Gina Chung further announces herself as a bold new voice in American Literature. Pulsating with heart and profound emotional intelligence, these masterful short stories build into a tapestry of wonder. These powerful characters with their voices rendered so elegantly will stay with you long after the last page.”
Kali Fajardo-Anstine, bestselling author of Woman of Light 

“From praying mantises to toothy cats to shape-shifting kumihos—a menagerie of creatures stalk Gina Chung’s stories, bringing their appetites and apprehensions to these spellbinding narratives of love, loss, and belonging. In Green Frog, magic comes in many forms: from outright enchantments to small miracles of grace. Every story in this collection feels heart-thumpingly alive.”
Allegra Hyde, author of The Last Catastrophe