People like Sally Green

Half Bad is a 2014 young adult fantasy novel written by English debut author Sally Green. It is notable for its use of second person narrative as part of a wider first person narrative. On 3 March 2014, it set the Guinness World Record as the 'Most Translated Book by a Debut Author, Pre-publication', having sold in 45 languages prior to its UK publication by Penguin books.

Half Bad is set in modern-day Europe, mainly in Britain, where witches and humans (fains) live together. There are two primary types of witches: Black (generally oppressed and written off as evil) and White (the main population). The 17-year-old protagonist, Nathan, is half White and half Black, or a Half Code. His mother is dead, and his father, Marcus, is known as the most powerful and the cruellest Black Witch in the world. Due to the fact that Nathan is a Half Code, he has to go for annual Assessments. His every move is monitored by the Council of White Witches. He needs to follow several rules, but when he breaks one of them, his Gran is deemed unfit to be his guardian, and he receives a new guardian, Celia. Trapped in a cage and abused by Celia, Nathan has to escape before his seventeenth birthday when he will receive three gifts from his father and his magical ability, or Gift. Otherwise, he will die.