Local books: Jacques Cousteau, jack-o'-lanterns and necromancers

New releases

"A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest" by Robert H. Ruby, John A. Brown and Cary C. Collins, foreword by Clifford E. Trafzer (University of Oklahoma Press, $26.95). A third newly revised edition of a comprehensive guide to 150 tribes from the Pacific Northwest, ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and from California to British Columbia. Ruby is a retired physician and independent scholar living in Moses Lake; Brown was professor emeritus of history at Wenatchee Valley College. Collins is a public schoolteacher in Maple Valley.

"Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King" by Brad Matsen (Vintage, $16.95). New in paperback: A biography of the fearless deep-sea-diving pioneer by a Vashon Island author. A Seattle Times best book of 2009.

"The Story of the Jack O'Lantern" by Katherine Tegen, illustrated by Brandon Dorman (Harper $12.99). For ages 3-8: a charmingly spooky tale of how the jack-o'-lantern got its name, concerning "a greedy man named Jack who made a pact with the wrong person." Illustrator Dorman lives in Puyallup.

"Hold Me Closer, Necromancer" by Lish McBride (Henry Holt, $16.99). Spooky stuff for ages 14 and up: Sam, an "average guy rocking that fast food career" as a fry cook at Plumpy's, is also a necromancer (someone who can communicate with the dead). Complications ensue when Douglas, "a powerful and violent necromancer," moves in on Sam's Seattle territory. By a Seattle author.

"Unlocked" by Karen Kingsbury (Zondervan, $14.99). New inspirational fiction by the Vancouver, Wash.-based author, about an autistic 18-year-old boy who is bullied at school and an "in-crowd" girl who befriends him.

"Camille Saint-Saëns's The Carnival of the Animals," new verses by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Marie GrandPré (Knopf, $19.99). A book and CD package for ages 6-12 that focuses on the classical composer's masterwork. Prelutsky, a Seattle-area author, created new animal portraits with words to accompany the composer's music. GrandPré is the illustrator of the Harry Potter books.

"The Forest of Sure Things: Poems" by Megan Snyder-Camp (Tupelo Press, $16.95). A "layered sequence" of poems set in a historic village at the tip of a peninsula on the Northwest Coast that tells the story of a couple in grief after losing a child. Snyder-Camp lives in Seattle. She will read at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at Open Books: A Poem Emporium in Seattle (206-633-0811; www.openpoetrybooks.com).