2019 CDA Book Award Winners
The recipients are:
The CDA Book Awards Committee led by Chair, Past President General Audrey Svensson has named the winners:
AWARD
Title:
AMERICAN EDEN: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic,
Author:
Victoria Johnson
About
Dr. David Hosack, physician to both Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, stood at the heart of one of America’s most infamous duels—yet his own legacy has long been overlooked. A brilliant surgeon and visionary botanist, Hosack dreamed of building the nation’s first botanical garden. Educated in Europe and inspired by science, he returned to America to advance medicine, public health, and botanical research. His Elgin Botanic Garden, once flourishing on Manhattan farmland, now lies beneath Rockefeller Center. Hosack’s story is one of passion, perseverance, and a belief that nature held the key to the new Republic’s future.
CITATION
Title:
The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
Author:
A.J. Baime
About
In just 120 days, Harry S. Truman went from an unassuming vice president to a leader commanding the end of a world war and the dawn of a new global order. Thrust into power after FDR’s sudden death, Truman confronted Nazi surrender, the founding of the United Nations, the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the complex birth of the Cold War. With firebombs falling, concentration camps liberated, and a secret weapon unleashed, he faced decisions of immense consequence. This gripping account captures the extraordinary pressure and historic stakes that defined Truman’s swift and unlikely rise to presidential greatness.
YOUNG READER
Title:
THIRTY MINUTES OVER OREGON, A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story
Author:
Marc Tyler Nobleman
Illustrator:
Melissa Iwai
About
This moving account traces the extraordinary post-war journey of Nobuo Fujita, the only Japanese pilot to bomb the U.S. mainland during World War II. Ordered to ignite forest fires near Brookings, Oregon, Fujita’s attacks caused minimal damage—but left a lasting imprint. Two decades later, in a remarkable act of reconciliation, the town invited Fujita to their Memorial Day festival. Despite early resistance, the visit became a profound gesture of peace, supported even by local veterans. Through humility, courage, and connection, Fujita helped heal old wounds—proving that even after war, understanding and humanity can prevail.