Many children learn from a young age to tell the truth. They also learn that some lies are necessary in order to survive in a world that paradoxically values truth-telling, but practises deception. This book examines this paradox by considering how deception is often a necessary means of survival for individuals, families, governments, and animals.

Kerry Mallan is Professor and Director of the Children and Youth Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Her previous books include Gender Dilemmas in Children's Fiction (2009) and New World Orders in Contemporary Children's Literature: Utopian Transformations (with Clare Bradford, John Stephens, and Robyn McCallum, 2008).