KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A mail carrier said she was fired for accidentally handing out the latest Harry Potter book one day too soon.

Kenia Cooper (pictured, left) said she was just doing her job when she picked up the daily mail from the Westport post office where she worked, sorted her deliveries and left. But inside the stash was a single copy of the new Harry Potter book that had slipped past whoever divided up the mail.

The book was marked with a notice that said not to deliver it until June 21, but Cooper apparently didn't see it.

The woman who ordered the book, Connie Fifer, thought the early delivery was a mistake, but she opened it anyway. One of Fifer's coworkers read two chapters, but a few hours later, the fun was over. Fifer got a call that the post office wanted the book back.

"They said they delivered it early and made a mistake, and would I mind bringing the book with me to the front desk," Fifer explained.

The mail carrier eventually got the book back, but not without repercussions. Cooper was told to go home and not to return, KMBC's Emily Aylward reported.

Cooper said she missed hearing about the hype, which is why she never noticed the book among her deliveries.

"I'm paid to do a job; I did a job," she said. "It's a book -- it's fiction -- and this is my real life. This is not fiction. Me having to fight for my job is not fiction."

The post office claimed Cooper was only suspended, and that something like this likely wouldn't warrant firing. Union leaders were out of town and unavailable for comment.

Aylward reported that Cooper's husband was recently laid off from Sprint.