Charles Fuller fulfills promise to his sons with children's adventure novel, "Snatch"

Snatch: The Adventures of David and Me

Contributions from Charles H. Fuller to America’s literary heritage have been rich, theatrical plays based in historical fact that feature adults struggling with racial injustice and each other. So, it’s unsurprising that his much-awaited new release also draws from American history. That, however, is where the similarity with the playwright's older works thins.

His latest offering, Snatch: The Adventures of David and Me, is neither a play nor is its focus adult characters. It’s an adventure novel about two free black boys in 1838, young brothers who help a runaway slave in New York’s infamous Five Points neighborhood.

Fuller wrote this tale for his sons, who are now working men, Charles III and David Ira Fuller. With this novel, the playwright fulfills a promise he made 40 years ago to place his own boys in a story.

Playwright Charles H. Fuller

He told CNN that African-American children are missing from historical adventures that take place before slavery was abolished.

"I don't think there [have] been stories in which African-American kids have been at the center of those tales, in this country, ever"

In a BlogTalk radio interview with Joy Keys, he said:

“Like so many things we begin, the story I promised my sons was delayed as my career as a playwright began in earnest. They never forgot, and the story stayed with me nearly four decades.”

He also shares with Keys why he continues to write about historical racial struggles and says that Snatch educates readers with facts such as there were black people who helped white slave catchers capture runaway slaves. New York City was a major stop along the Underground Railroad.

Fuller, a Philadelphia, Penn., native, won the Pulitzer Prize for A Soldier's Play in 1982. He was also nominated for an Oscar for its screenplay when the drama became a movie, A Soldier's Story, released in 1984. In addition, per his biography at Penn State University, he won an Obie Award for the off-Broadway production of his play, Zooman and the Sign.