March 5, 1770 and Andy Mackpeace

I've always been intrigued by the Boston Massacre: March 5, 1770. I put it in my first Middle Grade Time Travel Adventure novel IN THE NICK OF TIME with my main character Andy traveling back to 18th century Boston to experience it firsthand.

I've always disliked time travel stories where the character travels and then lives in a kind of bubble and never really connects to anyone from the past. They deal with the past, but not emotionally connect. I wanted to change that.
In IN THE NICK OF TIME, Andy meets Samuel Maverick, one of the victims of the massacre, and in this excerpt, Andy doesn't quite know what is going on until it's too late:

Andy watched as more boys gathered and pitched the rock-laden snowballs.        

Snowballs.

I've seen this before. In history class. Snowballs. Snow and crowds and...

His stomach lurched. He knew what this was! It was 1770. This was the Boston Massacre.

Massacre!
            Andy grabbed Samuel's arm and pulled him hard. “Get out of here. You have to get out of here. This is dangerous. They're going to start shooting!” he screamed.

            “Don't be an ass! They're not going to do anything,” Samuel pushed back. He joined the crowd in their taunts. “I dare you! Fire! Go ahead. Fire!” He threw a brick and then more snowballs with rocks in them. “Fire!”

            The crowd grew braver and began throwing harder objects at the soldiers. The noise was louder and louder. Andy tried again. He screamed at Samuel. “We have to get out of here! I'm serious!”

             “Stop grabbing me!” Samuel yelled. He pushed Andy who fell down onto the feet of the people behind him. Then one of the soldiers (and we know it was one of two), heard the word “Fire!”, mistook it as an order from Preston, and pulled the trigger.

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Peace.