Maria

Scrivan

Middle Grade Graphic Novelist

New York Times Bestseller

Travels from: Greenwich, CT

“This NYT best-seller’s energy lit lights in my students’ minds.” — School Board Member, Monticello, NY

Maria Scrivan is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning syndicated cartoonist.

The first book in her graphic novel series, Nat Enough (Scholastic/Graphix), launched on April 7th, 2020, became an instant New York Times bestseller. It was followed by: Forget Me Nat, Absolutely Nat, Definitely Nat, and Nat for Nothing. The fifth book in the series, All is Nat Lost, will be available in Spring 2024. She is also a contributor to Marvel’s Super Stories which will release in October 2023.

Maria’s comic, Half Full, is syndicated by Andrews McMeel and available on GoComics.com/half-full. It appeared daily in newspapers nationwide including the LA Times for the last ten years.

Her cartoons have appeared in many publications including MAD Magazine, Highlights, American Bystander, Prospect Magazine, Parade Magazine, and Wired. She also licenses her work for hundreds of greeting cards.

Maria is available for author events, cartoon workshops, school and library visits, and speaking engagements both virtually and in person.

In addition to schools and bookstores, she has presented at the Winter Institute, ALA Booklist, Brooklyn Book Festival, Moccafest, Decatur Book Festival, Toronto Comics Arts Festival, School of Visual Arts, Society of Illustrators, TMtalks.org, New York Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con, Crossroads Columbus, the Charles Schulz Museum, and at An Unlikely Story with Jeff Kinney.

When she is not writing or drawing, she loves running in the woods, cycling, yoga, and cuddling her dog.

Maria lives in Connecticut, close to New York City.

Maria's Featured Titles

All Is Nat Lost: A Graphic Novel (Nat Enough #5)

Graphix |

March 5, 2024

Children’s/Middle Grade

A companion to the New York Times bestselling series that began with Nat Enough!

Nat’s class trip is a bigger adventure than she imagined!

Nat is on an overnight class trip to Philadelphia, which is her first time in a big city without her parents. And it’s a big deal because Nat’s mom and dad are finally giving her the independence she’s been longing for. But the trip is off to a bad start — with one disaster after another — and if things keep up, Nat’s on track to lose her parents’ trust and her newfound freedom for good!

Kid Lit: Middle Grade, Kid Lit: Picture Books & Early Readers

Nat For Nothing

Graphix |

February 7, 2023

Graphic Novel

A companion to the New York Times bestselling series that began with Nat Enough!

It’s a best friend battle!

Natalie is having a rough start to the school year. Each student has been asked to join an extracurricular activity, and Nat’s two best friends have no trouble finding activities that interest them. Flo tries her hand at puppetry, and Zoe makes the volleyball team… with Nat’s ex-BFF, Lily! So now Zoe and Lily are always together, and Nat’s over it! Nat’s feeling betrayed, and she still hasn’t found a club to join. But when Nat meets a new student who’s having the same difficulty choosing a club, they decide to create one together. Could this be the solution to her problems?

Illustration & Graphic Storytelling, Kid Lit: Picture Books & Early Readers, Kid Lit: Young Adult

Absolutely Nat

Graphix |

September 21, 2021

Graphic Novel

Companion to the New York Times bestseller Nat Enough!

You can stay stuck or go forward, but you can’t go back.

Natalie has just arrived at summer camp and soon realizes it isn’t anything like the brochure. Instead of spending the summer with her best friends, Zoe and Flo, Natalie is stuck with her ex-BFF, Lily, and someone even more annoying than the endless mosquitoes: Millie Flatbottom. Even worse, she’s constantly pushed out of her comfort zone and forced to come face-to-face with some of her greatest fears. Although summer camp isn’t at all what Natalie expected, could it be exactly what she needs?

Illustration & Graphic Storytelling, Kid Lit: Picture Books & Early Readers, Kid Lit: Young Adult

Forget Me Nat

Graphix |

September 1, 2020

Graphic Novel

Companion to the New York Times bestseller Nat Enough!

It’s called a crush for a reason…For the first time in her life, Natalie feels confident. Her talents are being recognized, she has supportive friends, and she’s spending a ton of time with her crush, Derek! But when Derek tells Natalie that he just wants to be friends, Natalie’s self-confidence quickly changes to self-doubt. As she tries to recover from her broken heart, Natalie casts aside her talents and even her friends. With no one to turn to, Natalie will have to pull herself out of this mess on her own.

Illustration & Graphic Storytelling, Kid Lit: Picture Books & Early Readers, Kid Lit: Young Adult

Nat Enough

Graphix |

April 7, 2020

Graphic Novel

A New York Times bestseller!

Making friends isn’t easy, but losing them is even harder!Natalie has never felt that she’s enough — athletic enough, stylish enough, or talented enough. And on the first day of middle school, Natalie discovers that things are worse than she thought — now she’s not even cool enough for her best friend, Lily! As Natalie tries to get her best friend back, she learns more about her true self and natural talents. If Natalie can focus on who she is rather than who she isn’t, then she might realize she’s more than enough, just the way she is.

Illustration & Graphic Storytelling, Kid Lit: Picture Books & Early Readers, Kid Lit: Young Adult

Nat Enough Series

Maria shares her inspiration for creating the Nat Enough series with childhood art, photos, and stories. She discusses her own struggles with not fitting in, her love of cartooning at an early age, and strategies to move through doubt and fear. She shares her creative process along with the tools and materials she uses to create each book. She then creates live artwork with audience participation while answering questions.
Audience Size: Any, from small groups to large assemblies
40-60 minutes, Ages 7 and up

Becoming a Cartoonist

Maria shares a funny visual lecture on her journey to fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a syndicated cartoonist and professional author. She discusses the many roadblocks along the way, rejection, and her unwavering determination. Maria shares the childhood feelings and experiences that were the inspiration for her books, where she gets her ideas, and her process of making comics and graphic novels.
Audience Size: Any, from small groups to large assemblies
40-60 minutes, Ages 7 and up

Nat Enough and Social Emotional Learning

In the Nat Enough series, Nat grapples with her feelings of not being enough. Using examples from all five books in the series, students are encouraged to reflect on selfawareness, recognize their strengths and weaknesses, understand the impact of their thoughts and emotions, and learn about empathy, relationship skills, resilience, and self-acceptance.
Audience Size: Any, from small groups to large assemblies
40-60 minutes, Ages 7 and up

Defeating Doubt Gremlins

Maria shares her own encounters with Doubt Gremlins on her path to becoming a professional cartoonist and author. She gives strategies to move through doubt and fear, and to ignore the voices in our heads that tell us we’re not good enough.
Audience Size: Any, from small groups to large assemblies
40-60 minutes, Ages 7 and up

Live Drawing Demo

While answering student questions at in-person events, Maria does a drawing demonstration on an easel or whiteboard. With help from the audience, Maria creates characters, builds comics, and shares examples of the shortcuts cartoonists use to communicate visually.

Comics and Storytelling Workshop

Learn how to draw a comic from concept to final. This workshop explores the components of story and applying that to comics. Students will leave with a finished comic of their own.
60 minutes, Ages 7 and up

Cartoonists Tips and Tricks Workshop (All ages)

Maria shares the visual shortcuts cartoonists use to create comics. In an easy to follow and interactive format, she shows students how to create expressions, speech bubbles, actions, body language, and more to use in their own comics.
60 minutes, Ages 7 and up

Making a Graphic Novel

Maria shares the process of brainstorming and finding ideas, creating thumbnails, outlines, scripts, story development, sketches, inking and final art from concept to completion.
60 minutes, Ages 7 and up

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/ADULTS

Creativity (Professional Development/Adult)
As a syndicated cartoonist, graphic novelist, magazine cartoonist, and greeting card artist, Maria has come up with thousands of ideas. She shares strategies for brainstorming, moving through creative blocks, and the benefits of rejection. She discusses productive vs. non-productive procrastination, moving past doubt and fear, and creating physical and energetic space for art. Attendees will be inspired and energized to explore their own creativity, no matter the medium.
Defeating Doubt Gremlins (Professional Development/Adult)Maria shares strategies to recognize and move through the negative voices that stand in the way of achieving our goals and becoming our best selves. As we move past doubt and fear, we learn to reevaluate the false stories that stand in our way, along with strategies to build resiliency, and change our inner narrative.
Nat Enough and Social Emotional Learning (Professional Development/Adult)In the Nat Enough series, Nat grapples with her self-perception and her feelings of not being “enough.” Using examples from all five books in the series, educators are given tools to help students reflect on their own self-awareness, recognize their strengths and weaknesses, understand the impact of their thoughts and emotions, and learn about empathy, relationship skills, resilience, and self-acceptance.
The Benefits of Graphic Novel (Professional Development/Adult)Graphic novels are not only real books, they are real books enhanced. They promote empathy, visual learning, and are excellent for reluctant readers and students with learning differences, and for young readers to feel successful.
Visual Journals (Professional Development/Adult)How to use writing and drawing to explore feelings, incite healing, and process experiences to a deeper level. This workshop explores the benefit of using images in storytelling, and tools to create stories using images.
You are Enough (Professional Development/Adult)How to help students move through the feelings of not being enough, using themes and examples from of the Nat Enough series including self-worth, self-love, doubt, fear, and independence.
Through the Lens of Humor (Professional Development/Adult)Humor comes from strong emotions of all kinds, including anger, frustration and sadness. Writing a daily comic for over a decade trained Maria’s brain to look at the most trying moments from childhood and beyond through the lens of humor. She shares how we can use humor for healing, getting to know true selves, and dealing the world today.

Jenny Poitras, Notre Dame Prep
“Maria Scrivan’s talk provided the perfect mix of humor and humility. Our students were encouraged to try to find the funny in even the toughest of circumstances and to not let rejection stop their pursuits.”

Mario Orsatti, www.TMTalks.org
Maria’s got the gift for speech in spades! Her energy, enthusiasm, and wonderful personal story are extremely engaging. I loved interviewing her, and so did the thousand or so viewers to my weekly webcast.

John Schu, Book Joy Live
“Maria Scrivan was a guest on Book Joy Live, a weekly virtual program I host that celebrates books, story, and school libraries. Her passion for comics, her humor, and her kind heart imbued my heart and the viewers’ hearts with pure JOY. Thank you, Maria!

Melissa Jones, Girls Positivity Club
“Maria was an amazing speaker to the small group of girls in my youth organization, Girls Positivity Club. She shared her writing process, showed us the real-life dog character, Treat, and spoke with the girls about following their passions and not giving up when faced with rejection. She elaborated on the questions the girls asked and was naturally genuine and responsive to the girls. One girl in my group was so excited to meet Maria because she has 3 Learning Disabilities and Nat Enough is the first unassigned book she has ever finished reading with success from cover to cover. That in itself paired with meeting her in ‘virtual’ person, was a priceless moment that she will cherish from her childhood. The messages in her books and in her speaking encourage kids to be who they are and to focus on the good qualities each person brings to the world.

Mike Cavallaro, Instructor, School of Visual Arts, NYC
“Maria brought an exuberant jolt of personality to my undergrad cartooning class. My students get plenty of “how-to” during the regular sessions, so I enjoyed watching them open up and engage with Maria’s instantly relatable story of her own artistic journey, including the challenge of finding one’s way after art school, a tale of particular interest for students about to graduate and enter the field, told with attention to both the creative and business aspects. Maria left many students with a renewed sense of the possibilities available in the field of cartooning, at a critical time in their own development. I’m hoping to have her back each semester, if she’s willing!

Tara Russell Ethridge, International School of Prague Librarian
“Our 3rd-6th grade students met with Maria online, and she is amazing with kids! We learned about her writing/drawing process, heard about her journey to becoming a cartoonist, and also learned how to draw Nat alongside her. Lots of rave reviews at our school from kids and teachers alike!

Angie Zhao, Events & Social Media Coordinator, BBGB Books
“Maria weaves fun, easy-to-follow drawing tutorials into honest discussions on feelings of inadequacy and later materializing her passion as a cartoonist/illustrator. Students left visits inspired, creative, and excited for what’s next for Nat!

School Board Member, Monticello, NY
“Amazing assembly with the incomparable Maria Scrivan. This NYT best-seller’s energy lit lights in my students’ minds sharing her writing process and growth mindset! We used our sketchnotes to chronicle our amazement!

Maria’s Coloring Pages

Maria’s “Half Full” Comic

Maria’s Greeting Cards

Maria’s Porfolio

Maria’s Travel Sketches

Marie’s Illustrations in Mad Magazine

Honors, Awards & Recognition

NYT Bestseller (Nat Enough)
Canadian Bestseller (Nat Enough)
Canadian Bestselling Author (Nat for Nothing
Named one of the 2020’s best graphic Novels by Washington Post (Nat Enough)
Sakura Award Nominee (Nat Enough)
Best New Graphic Novel of 2020, SheKnows.com (Nat Enough)
”A Mighty Girl” Recommended Book (Nat Enough)
”A Mighty Girl” Community Pick Nat Enough)
ALA best Graphic Novels for Kids (Absolutely Nat)
W.A.Y.R.B.A Younger Reader’s Shortlist (Nat Enough)
One of Apple Books’ most anticipated reads of 2023!