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Rowdy Girl

Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher

Rowdy Girl cover

Description

With raw honesty and vulnerability, Rowdy Girl illuminates the realities of animal agriculture through tracing the author's journey from a poor upbringing to life as the wife of a Texas cattle rancher. Unable to reconcile the cruel realities of her husband Tommy's business, Renee King-Sonnen begins to question some of society's most basic assumptions about the animals we eat and the food systems we uphold. These questions spark a profound transformation-and a determination to save the very cattle her husband's livelihood depends on.

The couple's opposing worldviews lead to escalating conflict, pushing their marriage to the brink. Seeking support, King-Sonnen connects with online vegan communities and launches a secret Facebook diary, The Vegan Journal of a Cattle Rancher's Wife. With a growing following, she rallies support for an ambitious plan: buy Tommy's herd, take over the ranch, and transform it into an animal sanctuary. The suspense peaks in December 2014, when Tommy agrees to sell her the cattle for $30,000-if she can raise the funds before they're sent to slaughter.

More than a memoir, Rowdy Girl is a story of spiritual awakening and ethical transformation. It reveals the shared ground between ranchers and vegans-a commitment to compassion, tradition, and sustainability-while challenging the foundations of animal agriculture. Through her deeply personal journey, King-Sonnen invites readers to consider their own relationship with animals, the food they eat, and the possibility of living with greater compassion.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1.Family and Friends
2. Jesus, God, And All Things Holy
3. Mine and Theirs
4. The Lost Years
5. Birth of a Honky-Tonk Queen
6. Ahimsa
7. Renee and Tommy
8. Rowdy Girl
9.The Moment I Went Vegan
10.'Til Death Do Us Part
11. Becoming a Cowgirl
12. Everyone Lied to Me
13. The Mad Cowgirl Meets the Mad Cowboy
14. The Showdown
15. The Sacred Bond of Violence
16. Tinseltown in Angleton
17. From Ranch to Rescue
18. Door Number Three
19. Who's Hating on Us and Why?
20. Floods, Freezes, Heat Waves, and Droughts
21. New Land
22. Stormy's Medical Treatment Facility
23. When Cows Are Down
24. I Love Chickens
25. Asha's Controversy
26. The Himalayan Vegan Festival
27. A Tribute to Doogie the Goat
28. My First Thanksliving
29. How 18,000 Cows Triggered My God Spot
30. The Birth of RAP
31. My Vision for the Future

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 25 Jun 2026
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 256
ISBN 9798216278375
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 13 b&w photos
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

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