The main character is a twelve-year-old girl called Ye Xian who lives in China in the middle of World War II.

When reaching her new quarters, she also meets Marat and Sam, two other boys that were part of the circus show and are David's friends.

Travelling to Nan Tian Island, they help five crew members of one of the American planes, called the Ruptured Duck, and the children form a friendship with the five.

However, the Japanese, angered by the escaping of the American bombers, decide to punish the Chinese at Nan Tian Island through a massacre.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society a "riveting" and "gripping tale based on a true event [that] meshes action and suspense with Eastern philosophy to create a provocative and educational read".

[1] Similarly, CM Magazine's Ruth Latta referred to the novel as an "ambitious" and "multi-layered adventure" that "quietly educates young readers" as "Yen Mah skillfully works in much information about Chinese culture".

Latta writes, "In distorting the fact that they all died, Yen Mah breaks a rule of historical fiction.

Latta further expressed that such changes may be acceptable in an "alternative history" novel but argues that Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society is a "traditional, time-tested type of historical novel".