College junior Ethan Trousock has his own problems: professor Bourman's history exam, parental aging, dating dry spells. The devastating oil spill that blanketed his university's coastline half a century before and led to the birth of the modern environmental movement is ancient history. Until one night when an ocean portal transports him back to 1969.

Denise Pirouet, an overwhelmed student reporter, has a front row seat to the ominous undercurrent unleashed by the inky, oil-laden ocean, including a pernicious bombing at the Faculty Club. Ethan befriends Denise and her boyfriend, whom he suspects he recognizes from the future. As campus unrest mounts, culminating in a bank burning and a violent standoff with the national guard, Ethan and Denise become linked in unexpected ways that will only become clear 50 years later.

Earth Jumped Back is a historical, time-bending novel based on events in Santa Barbara, CA, that occurred during the same period of generational upheaval as the Manson murders. Philip Reari is an environmental reporter and editor whose first novel was shortlisted for the Santa Fe Literary Awards. Listen to this book for an entertaining, probing peek into the recent past that will make you think differently about today.