Clown in a Cornfield

Gr 9 Up–Quinn and her father move from Philadelphia to the heartland following the overdose death of her mother. Her dad has taken over the practice of the recently retired town physician—office and turnkey home included. Quinn quickly finds herself aligned with the town mischief-makers. Following an explosive Founder’s Day parade—replete with denizens in Frendo the Clown costumes and pranks gone horribly awry—the town teenagers head to a cornfield to celebrate in their own way. The party begins normally enough with loud music, cheap beer, and barn dancing, but it quickly escalates as Quinn and her new friends soon discover they are not the only ones who are walking the rows at night. Suddenly, there’s a clown in the cornfield and this Frendo definitely isn’t there to make friends. But just as they defeat this clown, dozens of heavily armed Frendos come out of the corn taking deathly aim. Cesare brings the slasher film to the page. Once the clowns make their appearance the book kicks into high-gore gear. Fans of the genre will not be disappointed—there’s no shortage of the usual tropes. Not much in the way of character development, but readers probably aren’t coming to this one looking for much other than the chills and thrills in a quick read. Quinn’s ethnicity isn’t stated, and partygoers are a mix of races and sexual orientations.