Boys of Blur (Random House, 2014) is another of N.D. Wilson’s beautiful treatments of fatherhood. The reanimated corpses with a clear zombie heritage (the “Stanks”) are simply extras.
The story is set in Taper, Fla., population 600, which just happens to be built on a site where wicked men conducted demon worship for centuries. Twelve-year-old Charlie Reynolds is the stepson of former NFL star Prester Mack, who is returning to his hometown to coach football. There, Charlie runs into his abusive biological father, his half-brother—and his homeschooled cousin Cotton Mack. Wilson gets a lot of mileage out of homeschool jokes. After all, he teaches at a college (New Saint Andrews in Moscow, Idaho) whose primary demographic is homeschooled. Anyone who’s studied Latin at the dining room table will have a hard time keeping a straight face. But the book’s primary emphasis remains on public school sports...