Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship was written by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes and illustrated by Scott Magoon (Candlewick Press). While the main character, Jessica, is a child, the story is based on Jessica Kensky’s experiences with her service dog, Rescue.

Jessica is an adult who was injured in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. She is now married to Patrick Downes, her co-author, who was also injured on that day. Their lives were changed because of their physical and emotional injuries. When she was in the hospital, Jessica was paired up with a service dog whom she named Rescue. His name is to honor Worcester, MA firefighter Jon Davies who rode on the truck, Rescue 1, and gave his life in the act of duty. Jessica attests that her service dog, Rescue, saved her.

While there is no discussion of the Boston Marathon tragedy, the child in their story has both of her legs badly injured. The story is told from two points of view – the young girl’s and the dog’s.

This book also promotes NEADS/World Class Service Dogs located in Princeton, MA. Their website is https://neads.org/.