One of the difficulties that I have encountered with freshman textbooks is the readability of narrative. Unfortunately, many of my students have problems with reading comprehension and cannot deal with the encyclopedic major's texts such as Campbell or Purves. I considered going to a true non-major's book such as Campbell's Concepts and Connections , but that seems a little too much like 'spoon feeding' and some important details were missing. Asking About Life is a wonderful learning tool. I not only like the opening story for each chapter, if I had it my way, the entire text would be written in this same manner.
Science is a fascinating story, discussing a fascinating subject, about fascinating people.
It is what makes this text one of the best on the market. I also like the historical approach taken in all the chapters. The material in all chapters is presented at the appropriate level. I cannot express enough my appreciation for a freshman text where students can focus on the science because they do not have to struggle with the reading. My students would find them interesting, easy to comprehend, and most important, they would learn.