Glen Ridge schoolteacher delights young readers

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Stories promising to make his skin crawl grabbed the attention of Ridgewood Avenue School language arts teacher Jerry White when he was a young reader; fairy tales lured him, too. A published author of nine children’s titles and a 10th on Japanese horror movie maker Kiyoshi Kurosawa, White, 48, began writing as a boy, growing up on Staten Island.

“I think all writers begin as readers, and I was an avid reader,” he recently told The Glen Ridge Paper. “My family didn’t have a lot of money, but I had a library card.”

He said the creepy children’s stories he read were too tame for him, but he found entertainment in two mystery series: “The Investigators” and “Encyclopedia Brown.” 

“I guess I started writing because it was quiet,” he said. “My father worked nights and slept days. I’d write stories for my classmates and hand them out. And I’d write mysteries you’d have to figure out. I still do.”

White attended Hobart College and received his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Emerson College.

His first children’s book, “The Thickety: A Path Begins,” was published in 2014 and began a three-book fantasy series featuring the strong-willed Kara and her brother, Taff. His 2018 “Nightbooks” was made into a Netflix feature movie.

“I don’t think writers pick the kind of writer they are,” White said. “It’s the other way around. Why horror for me? I don’t know. I love and still love fairy tales. And I always loved short stories. ‘Encyclopedia Brown’ was written like a great riddle. When I got older, I discovered Ray Bradbury. His short stories were really ‘it,’ for me.”

His own short stories, he said, gave him confidence to create longer fictions. 

“It’s always a leap of faith and I wasn’t sure if it would work out,” he said. “I was about 28 when I felt I was ready. My wife, Yeeshing, and I already had our first child. That takes a lot of time.” 

When attempting the longer form, White said he told himself he was writing a series of short stories that would be strung together.

“Other writers are planners,” he said, “but that doesn’t work for me. I make a lot of it up as I go along. I know what the next thing is and I write it. It works out, but I do a lot of rewriting. But on a day-to-day basis, I’ll say to myself, ‘Let me just write it and go from there.’” 

And as every writer knows and White will tell you, there comes a point when a fictional character shows independence. 

“Sometimes, I’m surprised what a character does,” he said. “But for every page I write, I probably throw out three. I’ll write entire chapters that don’t work. I’m just trying to plow through those first drafts. I love revision. It’s my favorite part.” 

White, who teaches fifth-grade language arts, and has taught third, fourth and sixth grades, and been a media specialist, says his stories do not instruct.

“My responsibility as a writer is to tell a good story,” he said. “Somebody opens a book and you owe them a good journey. You’re not responsible for teaching children. With a story, a kid will resent a lesson. They’ll think, ‘Oh, I thought it was entertainment, but you’re trying to teach me something.’”

A good children’s story, he said, should appeal to all ages, but in a language children appreciate. 

“You have to understand kids,” he said, “how they think and talk. If you were writing an adult historical book, you’d have to get it right. With a children’s book, you have to understand kids.”

When he is doing his best writing, White said, he is writing daily, before work, starting at 4 a.m.

“I think, if you leave a story for two days, you’re losing something,” he said. “It’s like exercising. Even if it’s for only an hour, checking in with a story really helps me.”

The first person to read his work is his wife. After reading the first 80 pages of “The Thickety,” White said she told him to stop jumping between characters and stick with one. 

“I did that and it sold,” he said.

Even with his writing success, White, who is in his 21st year in the school district, said he loves teaching so much that, without it, he would lose a part of himself.

“It would be very hard to give up,” he said. It keeps me involved with children, and when September comes along, it’s a relief. I’m always more productive during the school year.”

White lives in Greenbrook with Yeeshing and their three sons. He said people might think Halloween is his favorite holiday, but it is Christmas.

“We decorate wildly for both,” he said.

For more information on White and his books, visit jawhitebooks.com.

  FEATURED, Ridgewood Avenue School