Ms. White's first book, Friends For Life was published while she was a senior at Tufts University. Ms. White grew up in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Many of her fiction novels feature characters who reside in Boston or are from Boston and are fans of the Boston Red Sox (as Ms. White apparently is). In addition to her fiction novels, Ms. White has written both Sports Biographies and Historical Fiction/Biography books. She wrote four stories about the Echo Company in the midst of the Vietnam War under the pseudonym Zack Emerson. White got the name Zack from the name of her shepherd dog. She has also written the Santa Paws series under the pseudonym Nicolas Edwards.

The young adult characters in Ms. White's fiction books are realistic people who struggle with very difficult lives--whether those lives include war, murder, kidnapping, or some other trouble. The focus of all of her books is on overcoming the difficulties and surviving as a better person. None of her characters lives what could be classified an "ordinary" life, but all are relatable to an "ordinary" person.

Series

The President's daughter series

*The President's Daughter (1984)

*White House Autumn (1985)

*Long Live the Queen (1989) (Winner: ALA Best Book for Young Adults)

*Long May She Reign (2007) Released October 2007 by Feiwel & Friends, which is an imprint of Holtzbrinck.)

Echo Company series (as Zack Emerson)

*Echo Company #1: Welcome to Vietnam (1991)

*Echo Company #2: Hill 568 (1991)

*Echo Company #3: 'Tis The Season (1991)

*Echo Company #4: Stand Down (1992)

*The Road Home (as Ellen Emerson White) (1995) (Nominated: Young Reader's Choice Award, 1998; ALA Best Book for Young Adults[1])

Santa Paws series (as Nicholas Edwards)

*Santa Paws (1991)

*Return of Santa Paws (1997)

*Santa Paws to the Rescue (2000)

*Santa Paws, Come Home (2000)

*Santa Paws, Our Hero (2002)

*Santa Paws and the New Puppy (2004)

• None of the unauthorized books by Kris Edwards (Santa Paws Saves the Day [2005], Santa Paws and the Christmas Storm [2006], and Santa Paws on Christmas Island [2007]) have anything to do with the Santa Paws series, Nicholas Edwards, or Ellen Emerson White.

Friends series

*Friends for Life (1983)

*Life Without Friends (1987)

Historical fiction/biography

*The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady (1998)

*The People's Princess, Hawaii, 1889 (2001)

*The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty: United States Marine Corps Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968 (2002)

*The Diary of Molly Mackenzie Flaherty (2002)

Sports biographies

*Bo Jackson: Playing the Games (1990)

*Jennifer Capriati (1991)

*Jim Abbott: Against All Odds (1994)

*Shaquille O'Neal (1994)

Short stories

*The Boy Next Door (collected in Thirteen)

Other books

*Romance is a Wonderful Thing (1983)

*All Emergencies, Ring Super (1998)

*Santa Paws: The Picture Book (2003)

*Dear America, Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady(1998)