Clown in a Cornfield

Quinn Maybrook is the protagonist of the novel. She is characterized as a teenager who grew up in Philadelphia, making her an outsider to the small-town social dynamics of Kettle Springs. Quinn’s status as an outsider to the town makes her a surrogate for the reader, allowing long-time residents like Cole and Janet to explain things about Kettle Springs without making the exposition feel forced or out of place.

Quinn has an avoidant personality, which is symptomatic of the trauma she experiences following the death of her mother, Samantha. It is implied that Quinn feels some shame over the association with her mother, who experienced drug addiction, since she accepts the move to Kettle Springs on the premise that it will allow her to “keep her head down, avoid the drama… [and] start over” (22). This extends to the idea of forming emotional attachments to people in Kettle Springs, which she sees as a stopgap before she returns to Philadelphia for college. Although she quickly finds a social circle at her high school, she never shares her backstory with them or how her experiences make her feel. Similarly, Quinn starts to feel anxious when the underclassmen start paying attention to her while she dances with Cole at the party.