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, and All is Nat Lost. The sixth book in the series, Nat a Chance, will be released in March of 2025. She is also a contributor to Marvel’s Super Stories which was released in October of 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.

Maria's Featured Titles

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.

“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.” ― Jenny Poitras, Notre Dame Prep

“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.” ― Mario Orsatti, www.TMTalks.org

“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!” ― John Schu, Book Joy Live

“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.” ― Melissa Jones, Girls Positivity Club

“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!” ― Mike Cavallaro, Instructor, School of Visual Arts, NYC

“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!” ― Tara Russell Ethridge, International School of Prague Librarian

“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!” ― Angie Zhao, Events & Social Media Coordinator, BBGB Books

“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!” ― School Board Member, Monticello, NY

Maria’s Greeting Cards

Half Full Comic

Maria’s Portfolio

Maria’s Travel Sketches

Maria’s Magazine Work

Maria’s Press Page

Maria’s Link to School Visit & AV Needs

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!

Media clips

Greenwich Time | Greenwich native draws on memory for Nat Enough graphic works

Comics Beat | Half Full’s Maria Scrivan to make her graphic novel debut with Nat Enough

Comics Beat | Interview: Maria Scrivan on ALL IS NAT LOST, Philadelphia and procrastidoodling

Comics Beat | COVER REVEAL: Attack of the Doubt Gremlins in NAT FOR NOTHING

The Washington Post | 2020 begins with a rich blend of graphic storytelling

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.