Caged like an animal. Training for a mission. This story begins In Medias Res, or in the middle, launching the reader into Nathan’s tortuous life without knowing why he is treated in such a way until 20 pages into his life.  Nathan is a half blood – half white witch and half black witch. Both white and black witches live among the humans in this modern English setting. Nathan has strong ties to his white heritage as he is raise by his grandmother on that side. But his 17th birthday is approaching. With this birthday he should receive his 3 gifts at his Giving ceremony. While he always assumed it they would be given by his grandmother, securing his connection to the white side, the Council takes him away from his family, setting up a struggle that will pit Nathan between his mother’s white side — a mother who committed suicide to avoid the family drama and trauma– and his father’s side — a father who Nathan has never know, who he has been told may want to kill him, and who he still has the strongest desire to meet.   This story has tones of the racial tension of our past as Nathan struggles between his white and black sides early on.  The 1st book in a trilogy, readers can easily sense that the story just won’t be wrapping up any time soon.  If witches are the new vampires, this Sally Green’s Half Bad trilogy should do well with middle and high school grade readers.