HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — A Huntersville mom has a warning for other parents, urging them to check their bookshelves and take a closer look if they have the New York Times bestselling series the "Dork Diaries."
There are two versions floating around, and this mom said what she read with her daughter sends the wrong message.
The two books look almost exactly the same -- they have the same title, author and cover art. The only difference on the outside is that one is called the "super squee edition.” But what's inside on pages is different, and some parents say what's in one version isn't appropriate for kids.
“It’s innocent on the outside, a sweet little message to my beautiful girl on the inside," Brooke Plummer of Huntersville said, flipping through the beginning of the book. "It's in a comic-like format so that was appealing to my daughter, cute little images."
Plummer's 7-year-old daughter Haven got the book as a gift from a friend this holiday season. Since her friend read it in two days and loved it, Haven was excited to read it with her mom.
“Page 34 is where I put on the brakes and said, 'No way, we're not reading this,'” Plummer said.
The series is a New York Times Best Seller and it's on the shelves of every book store. But Plummer said it didn't take long to come across some questionable content.
“It talks about body image and uses very degrading terms,” she said.
After talking with her friend’s mom, Plummer realized they had two different versions of the same book, and the language in her version was not so kid-friendly.
"There’s two versions obviously floating out there," Plummer said. "Could this be in our children's school library’s and they have no idea? That’s very concerning."
The book came out in 2009 and is said to be targeted for ages 9 to 13. According to the publisher, Simon & Schuster, a "super squee" updated edition was released later.
NBC Charlotte reached out to the publisher and hasn’t heard back. It’s not clear if both versions are still produced.
Havens's book was bought on eBay. Plummer said she felt obligated to warn other moms -- her post on Facebook got a lot of traction, with several other parents sharing their experiences.
"So many moms have been commenting reaching out and messaging me personally that they had no clue and went and checked their daughters' [book] and it was the same bad -- worse of the two,” she said.
Several local book stores and the Charlotte Public Library say they haven't gotten any complaints about the books.
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