Sludge 1st 20 Pages

I did a substantial rewrite of the first 20 pages of Sludge. I tried to incorporate the suggestions of author Dave Farland. I shortened the time before the fistball game. The biggest criticism I got was that I tortured Sludge too much. I took out the grizzly-dogs, maybe to bring in later. I also toned down the electrocution scene. I was told that it was too violent for middle-grade. I also changed Sludge's age to 14 from 12 to get away with the milder violence I still have. I still want to hit the MG audience but I also hope this will be a crossover with young YA. I've been told that publishers don't like the term upper middle-grade. I'll be emailing the 20 pages soon. Please tell me what your inner middle grade tells you. This might be a tough questions since you've already read it and might be sick of it, but does it keep your interest? Does it seem too violent for 10-12-year-olds? Will kids from the 13-16 year old crowd go for it? All other comments are very welcome.

Thanks a million,

Alan