Are there any simple PhoneGap tutorials?
Well it doesn't use jQuery but I have quite a step-by-step PhoneGap tutorial for beginners up at https://github.com/drappenheimer/phonegap-by-dissection
It makes no assumptions, and the end result is an actual app! (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.drappenheimer.japxlate)
Here's a line by line tutorial: http://www.gajotres.net/building-a-native-mobile-app-with-phonegap-and-jquery-mobile-1-4/
If you need MaxOS version you can find it here: http://www.gajotres.net/creating-phonegap-project-on-macos/
It is my personal blog but there's no point in writing it everything here. Feel free to ask me if you have more questions.