Fan Question! Is the Girl on the Cover Ulla?

Pete in Poland asked if the girl on the cover of The Mark of the Bear Clan is meant to represent Ulla, our hero. A few others have commented on the same thing. Pete also speculated that the somewhat enigmatic girl with the bright green eyes and reddish hair might be Kirsikka, Ulla’s red-haired friend. Not a bad inference.

But the girl is indeed Ulla Karhulainen. The model is a little older than Ulla is in The Mark of the Bear Clan and her hair does appear more reddish, as opposed to Ulla’s dark locks; but it’s her. It’s difficult to find photo images that fit the characters perfectly, but the model is indeed Finnish and her attire is intended to evoke the Far Northern Land’s natural beauty as well as her role as a totem and magic-user. In the next book, The Heir of Lemminkainen, Ulla is older and the representation is much closer to the reality, as it were.