Rejected: Tommy's Tantrum

Back in May i entered an illustration contest for the Folio Society. Today i received an email stating that my piece was not chosen to move to the next round of judging. The piece was to depict a scene from the first chapter of the book "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. I have never heard about the book before I say the post for the contest. I was not given feedback on why my piece was not chosen. I only read the first chapter, so it is possible this image does not go with the rest of the story.
I don't enter contests often because I feel like my work doesn't resonate with general audiences, but I am proud of the work I made.
This was painted on vellum textured bristol board using gouache as that's what I had on hand.