I say this because hacking is a very dangerous subject, one that can land you in some serious trouble if it goes wrong, and knowing the experts and the theory will more than likely both shock/scare you and inform you to be a better hacker, White hat hopefully.
Knowing were to look is something that can be difficult if you don't know what your doing, or new to the field, I recommend staying away from backtrack/kali for now, its a very dangerous tool that may turn a smart kid with computers into an idiot with the power that distro has.
I recommend the EC-Council, this is the Certified Ethical Hackers council, I recommend first going to this link !!HERE!!
Follow the course outline here starting with the 2009 DBIR, just copy the text into google and select Verizon pdf.
The course outline gives you background in the law and the actual theory of hacking, which is what you need before actually using the tools provided, knowledge is power, and using that knowledge with the correct tools turns you from an idiot into someone who may have some talent in this field.
Staying up to date is the second part, the field is always changing, more than most, thousands of exploits and attacks are done a day and experts are behind the hackers, so keeping up to date is vital, just don't go over board.
Also a little hint, research is a massive part of an attack, the actual attack can be rather short, research takes over with data mining and or planning, having the knowledge of your target first will prove in a better attack than just going blind.
I also recommend following experts, I will link who I follow.
Paula Januszkiewicz - CEO of CQure, MCITP, MCTS, MCSE, MCDBA etc.
A very knowledgable woman, and very interesting to watch, and speaks very good english to say she is polish.
She is a security MSTA (Microsoft Security Trusted Advisor), she has access to MS source code.. and have a lot of knowledge with penetration testing, as is her job, she has done many videos online via conferences showing exploits and how to actually pull them off, go watch her.
http://www.cqure.pl/WPC/our-experts/paula/
Jacob Applebaum - Tor Project, Wikileaks, Washington University.
A self made hacker, focusing more on code than actual exploits it would seem, but he still has been branded as the most dangerous man on the internet, which he hates the title of, but he is rather good.
This man is often hunted by governments but not to the extent of Snowden, he has done many talks on the NSA and Privacy, and again is very knowledgable, and a keen photographer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Appelbaum
James Lyne - Sophos Director of Technology and Strategy, Overall geek and Spokes person.
This is what EC makes hackers look like on the website, the difference is this guy actually has the skills to cause damage, experting in malware and exploitation, he has done a few talks online, but has a blog which he shows and explains many different things, He seems more of the friendly hacker.
http://www.jameslyne.com/
Mikko H. Hypponen - F-Secure Chief Research Officer, Columnist.
A very good hacker, known for tracking down the creators of Brian.A, and even having a chat with the creators.
He is similar to James Lyne, he has done a few videos, but has a personal website. best place to follow him is twitter it would seem as there is not much activity on his site.
https://twitter.com/mikko
These guys are rather good at what they do, and are worth following just to keep up to date, paula and jacob seem to do more videos than the others if that is your thing.
So I hope this little ramble helps you become a better and more knowledgable hacker, rather than a fool, learn the tools after the theory you will be better prepared.