Character Too Old for Middle Grade?

I had an inkling of suspicion about this topic in December, but I have since had it confirmed by a generous agent who actually rejected my story and gave me a little feedback.

A RARITY, I MIGHT ADD, WHICH MAKES THIS AGENT A GEM IN MY BOOKS! 

I've mentioned it before but I'll repeat myself just this once.  Agents tend to get HUNDREDS of queries on any given week.  Many agents close their doors to queries for months at a time. Other agents will only accept snail mail queries to keep their piles at a minimum.  While the majority of agents have gone along with the mantra that 'NO RESPONSE MEANS NO'. 

--for the most part, I've realized that this is becoming the norm, though I wish the agents who do this would have an auto response letting the author know this information, otherwise, the author might keep querying the agent because they suspect their query got lost in spam-land. *spam, spam, spam* *sing along with me* *spam, spam, spam, spam*

When I received this rejection--a one day turnaround, I might add. Trust me, this is better than no response!--the agent actually liked the premise the story, but couldn't connect with my character because she sounded too old.

Okay, I get this.  In fact, this was my very fear with my middle grade stories. 

When I switched to writing MG I had a few people read my stories, but those critters were romance writers or essayists, they weren't children's writers or even readers of MG.  I belonged to SCBWI, but never connected with the local group, so for the most part I've been on my own. 

No, even my own kid doesn't really read my stories.  She's read my short stories, but has never read my novel length ones.  She's not really into the same fantasy stuff that I am. 

So I turned to my kidlet's teacher last month.  Mrs. E teaches 4th grade and deals with 9 and 10 year olds on a daily basis.  My character is 11, almost 12.  When I gave SUGAR PLUM DISASTER to Mrs. E to read, I knew some 4th graders were reading way above the norm {(as in TWILIGHT) and no, I don't think it's an appropriate story for that age, but that's the parent's responsibility to deal with not mine.}while others are still working their way through the Magic Treehouse stories. 

This is a vast range of reading abilities for this age group.  Mrs. E hasn't had a chance to get back to me yet--the life of a teacher, especially a teacher with her own kids, is never quiet--but I suspect her response will be similar to the agents. 

As for characters in MG stories, well, they run the gamut, too.  The reader grows up with Harry Potter, and I love how JKR dealt with the teenage angst without it overpowering the story.  We grow up with Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice, but there are older protagonists in MG.   THE FIRE WITHIN (The Last Dragon Chronicles) by Chris D'Lacey involves a college age protagonist. Many of the classics are sold as middle grade novels whether or not the protagonist is 9-12. Or you have the animal protagonists, GUARDIANS of GA'HOOLE.

But the real question remains, will I still write my character the same way?  Or will I try to present her as older? 

Actually, I think I'll keep my character like she is.  Oh, I might tweak her words and thoughts some, but I like the idea of my character growing up within a series. I don't want her to be much older since I'm not ready to deal with the teenage angst issues. 

I'll just wait a few years when I have to deal with them for real with my own child, and then I'll slip it into the books.

Later, Peeps!