Author credits Clackamas County teachers with his publishing success

A now-twice published author from Clackamas County said that he was so far behind in third grade that he couldn't read at grade level.

Jake Doberenz credited his third grade Sunnyside Elementary writing teacher, who worked with him individually and had him read along with cassette tapes, with helping him get back on track.

“By the end of the year, I was above grade level and absolutely hooked on reading,” Doberenz said.

Doberenz’s fifth-grade teacher, Pamela Brown, introduced him to fiction writing. During Brown’s class, Doberenz said he instantly fell in love with storytelling after writing a humorous dramatization of his experience entering fifth grade.

“It was then that I knew I wanted to publish books,” he said. “In fourth grade, I had nicknamed myself ‘Super Jake’ in order to be popular. So, by the next year, when I decided writing was fun, I took that nickname and developed a story around it. I made my friends heroes too and made my rivals villains. I wrote those stories for a year or so.”

In high school as a camp counselor at Oregon’s Camp Yamhill, Doberenz revived Super Jake stories to entertain the fifth and sixth graders he worked with.

“I realized then that the story had legs — so I began to turn it into a novel,” he said.

On Jan. 29, Doberenz released his second novel, “Super Jake and Kool Kenny,” aimed at middle graders aged 8-12 by promising adventure and laughter while subtly teaching life lessons, much like series opener, “Super Jake and the Fashion Police.” After graduating from Clackamas High School in 2015, Doberenz earned a bachelor's and master’s degree from Oklahoma Christian University and then became a teacher in Oklahoma City Public Schools.

As for learning his own life skills, Doberenz said he couldn’t have done it without Clackamas High School’s John Schlaefli’s leadership class and Advanced Placement language and composition courses.

“He taught me important writing skills that have helped me immensely in college and in book writing — though admittedly I still get confused about changing passive sentences to active ones,” Doberenz said. “Mr. Schlaefli also kept me humble and grounded with his dry sense of humor and no-nonsense teaching, especially when working with him in student government.”

Doberenz received no formal training in writing after high school. He is self-taught in writing, publishing and marketing through YouTube, podcasts, blogs and books.

Doberenz’s Super Jake stories take place in the quaint town of Westville. The hero of the series, 12-year-old Super Jake, can shoot ice cream from his hands.

Super Jake is Westville’s sole defender until his younger brother, 11-year-old Kenny, earns his own peculiar power — control over his hair. Kenny's ability sparks a sibling rivalry just as a new villain, a PE coach transformed into a red monster named Muscles, begins his rampage and forces the brothers to put aside their differences.

“Together, they embark on a quest to save Westville, learning the true essence of strength and unity along the way,” Doberenz said.

Doberenz recently left a fifth-grade teaching job to pursue writing, speaking and preaching full time.

“I felt momentum in that area and decided it deserved more attention from me. No matter how fun it was to teach kids — and read them my book! — I know enough about myself to know my skills were better utilized outside the classroom,” he said.

More information can be found at jakedoberenz.com.