By the second or third day that you\'re homeless, in the car with all your clothes, your pots and pans, everything, having to wash yourself in a public rest room, you logically start to feel dirty. You prefer to use the drive-through [at fast-food restaurants] where no one will see you. You begin to hide your family.Invisible NationMore than 2.5 million children are homeless in the United States every year. In every state, children are living packed in with relatives, or in cars, or motel rooms, or emergency shelters, the only constant being too many people in too little space. In a vividly-written narrative, experienced journalist RichardSchweidtakes us on a spirited journey through this invisiblenation, giving us front-row dispatches. Based on in-depth reporting from five major cities,InvisibleNationlooks backward at the historical context of family homelessness, as well as forward at what needs to be done to alleviate this widespread, although often hidden, poverty.InvisibleNationis a riveting must-read for anyone who wants to know what is happening to the millions of families living at the bottom of the economy.