Randall's Sandles, by Kevin Scott Collier

Randall Andrews is just like any other average, normal junior high student. He cruises the housing development where he and his family lives on his trusty skateboard, on the look-out for new and exciting experiences. Sure, he can be a little outspoken and rowdy in school, but he gets good grades, stays out of trouble, and he's a Christian, too.

Well - not one of those preachy, "I've gotta share it with the world" types, his parents practically have to drag him to church every Sunday; he's got more of a Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn outlook on church. In school, he just likes to hang out and be part of the crowd; that's just fine for Randall Andrews.

Everything changes, however, when he zips by a garage sale held by one of his neighbors, Micah Petrie, who's just retired from National Motors Company - who owns the whole development and makes all the rules, by the way. Intent on just wasting some time, Randall comes across what seems to be just standard garage sale fare; an old pair of dusty, worn leather sandals. He takes them, more to humor the quirky old Mr. Petrie than anything else.

However, when Randall starts wearing them to school, strange things happen - the boy whose parents have to drag to church every Sunday starts quoting scripture! Whose sandals are these, anyway, and what are they doing to Randall? Randall gets tossed from the frying pan into the fire when one day, in the midst of a discussion in the cafeteria, he tosses out the dreaded 'J' word - Jesus! A student is offended, feeling their freedom from religion has been violated, the ACLU gets involved - and now people are saying Randall can't go back to school, and he might even get sued, all because of a strange pair of dusty, old sandals bought at a garage sale.