Friday, June 26
BookPeople Presents: An Evening with Renée King-Sonnen
Organized by BookPeople
Date and time
Friday | June 26 2026 | 8:00 pm
About this event
Please welcome Renée King-Sonnen to celebrate Rowdy Girl: Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher!
This event is free and open to the public.————————
About the book:
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, Renée 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.————————
About the author:
Renée King-Sonnen is the founder and executive director of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, a non-profit that provides sanctuary to farm animals at risk of being slaughtered and promotes an ethical vegan lifestyle. RGS is changing the world for farmed animals through its Rancher Advocacy Program, an educational program that inspires ranchers to consider alternatives to animal farming, and Families Choosing Compassion, a program that offers a compassionate alternative to Future Farmers of America and 4-H. Renée is also the subject of a documentary titled, Rowdy Girl.————————
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Thank you for supporting Renée King-Sonnen and your local independent bookstore!
Languages
English
Event type
Education
Social
Organizer
BookPeople