Nathan’s mother was a white witch. His father Markus is the most notorious black witch alive. Nathan has always believed he was conceived when his father murdered his mother’s husband and attacked her. Much of Nathan’s childhood is told through flashback in this first book of a new trilogy that begins with Nathan captive in a cage, prisoner of the White Witch Council. At the center of Sally Green’s riveting, emotionally complex tale is a boy who is so very kind. The contrast between Nathan’s goodness and the abuse of power among the ruling white witches underscores the irony of Nathan’s anguish as he worries that he can’t avoid being evil because of Markus, and of a society that assumes white witches are good and black witches are bad. In truth, Green deftly shows how most characters are negotiating the space between the two. When Nathan escapes, the tension doesn’t abate as he is on the run and must decide whom to trust. Not his hateful half-sister Jessica he knows, but what about his childhood friend Annelise, daughter of a Council member, with whom he is falling in love? Or Celia, his captor when he was caged? Then there is the danger for people he cares about, especially tender Arran, his half-brother and fiercest protector in childhood. Wonderfully drawn secondary characters make for a richly realized story. (Age 13 and older)

"Highly entertaining and dangerously addictive."--Time Magazine

An international bestseller, translated into more than 50 languages!

Sixteen-year-old Nathan lives in a cage: beaten, shackled, trained to kill. In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan's only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers--before it's too late. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is monitored, when there is no one safe to trust, not even family, not even the girl he loves?

Half Bad is an international sensation and the start of a brilliant trilogy: a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive.