The Fifth of March is a 1993 novel about the Boston Massacre (of March 5, 1770, pre-Revolutionary War) by historian and author Ann Rinaldi, who was also the author of many other historical fiction novels such as Girl in Blue and A Break with Charity. This book is about a fourteen-year-old indentured servant named Rachel Marsh who finds herself changing as she meets many people, including young Matthew Kilroy, a British private in the 29th regiment who is not very easy to get along with. She has a friend named Jane, who was her first ever friend.